THE 11TH ANNUAL VIDEO GAME AWARDS SPLINTER CELL | COMPLETE № A 6 Pages Of ж. Strategy JOIN FORCES Two RPG Giants Become One SQUARE & ENIX ¥ S j E ® " GAME BOY OVER ADVANCE ФУ х g PLAYER - | GBA Hits The: af , SECRETS Big Screen 4 арысы: Сар Including Resident Evil а Killer 7 pg26 gs „эё О» Mild Violence PlayStat EVERYONE LIVE IN YOUR W*RLD. PLAY IN OURS Meet the world's most notorious drivers on the streets of LA, Paris, and Tokyo. Choose from the latest performance enhanced There are no rules - drive anywhere in the vehicles and compete to make a name city. Find the fastest route to win. for yourself. “PlayStation” and the “PS” family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Angel Studios and the Angel Studios logo are trademarks of Angel Studios. Rockstar Games and the Rockstar Games logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. 4 PlayStation.e WIGHT CLUB IT LOS ANGELES / PARIS / TOKYO The Midnight Club is now open to motorbikes. The cops know you are out there - Use tricks to gain an edge or just to Take advantage of the speed and control - but don't get caught. show off. Style is almost as important watch out, a wrong move will send you flying. as winning. ` JANUADY2003 A i | WWW.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM/MIDNIGHTCLUB2 | яу, | NINTENDO f ROR «л> GAMECUBE. | x i segasports.com Best Fighting Game Best Simulation Blood Strong Lyrics Violence MORE THAN 20 TOP FIGHTERS MULTIPLE FIGHTING STYLES FOR ALL THE PAIN HE’S IN, QUITTING WOULD FEEL MUCH WORSE. VARIOUS FIGHTING POSITIONS ONE HIT KNOCKOUTS DREAM STAGE entertainment www.thq.com © 2001, 2002 Dream Stage Entertainment, Inc. Exclusively licensed to THQ Inc. worldwide, except in Japan. THQ and its logo are registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All Rights Reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 4 A. draws near, Dour their weapons рес again. Ready Jour cutlass and grappling hooks and steel yourself for battle. ~~’ To Be Continued... RATING PENDING "^ S ‚ МЎ 2 s N i: P Visit vw ww.esrb.org or ы? i * call 1— 800-771-3772 } for Ra Bing Information. narks of Sega Corporation. ©OverWorks / 8 Ж. | ` LET THE HUNT BEGIN ON NINTENDO GAMECUBE” Fight zombies, vampires and ghouls on your own as Attack 20 types of creatures in swarms of up to 30 Slay in brutal single- and multi-player action one of 4 unique Hunters, or battle evil cooperatively at once using 20 mielee, ranged and spell weapons— through 23 huge environments, including a prison, with up to 4 players on a single screen. from swords to axes and flamethrowers. gothic church, cemetery and torture chamber. NINTENDO GAMECUBE Blood and Gore DIGITAL Violence SOFTWARE MAYHEM Hunter: The Reckoning © 2002 Interplay Entertainment Corp. All rights reserved. AtlasTech Game Engine trademark 2000 High Voltage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for Interplay Entertainment Corp. by High Voltage Software, Inc., under license from White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Hunter The Reckoning is a registered trademark of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Interplay, the Interplay logo, Digital Mayhem and the Digital Mayhem logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other copyrights and trademarks are property of their respective owners. TM, @, and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. THE RECKONING DELIVER US FROM EVIL. MT www.interplay.com/hunter FEATURE GAMES OF 2002 Always up for a good debate, the office is still spinning from battles raged during this war of ultimate importance — selecting the top ten Games of 2002. See what we came up with, and let the letters of dissent roll in. 12 GAMEINFORMER TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER STORY 34 FABLE Nothing could prepare you for this Xbox-exclusive RPG. Start as a child, finish as an adult, and each decision in between has consequences that can haunt you deep into old age. Will you become a villain or a hero? The choices are up to you. LIVE ANOTHER LIFE. Play any mit. thet Dae C warrior to the's есгег aSSass1 RE ANOTHER WORLD. The enormous gar l and Aree for یر‎ to di SCOVETI. С Oo 5 + x = n = ч. n » - r < > [9] а è » = m fe] Рт) "0 Q т о D X о (е, х GAMEPRO, 5.0 score IGN, Editors’ Choice GAMES DOMAIN, Top Game award GAMEZONE, Editors! Choice ADRENALINE VAULT, S alali Excell TEAM XBOX, Editors’ Choice GAMEOVER, Gamer’s Choice awar GAME INDUSTRY NEWS, n INVISIBLE DREAM, 997 XBox EVOLVED, Gold Medal GAMESPOT, Gam GAME RANKINGS, 96% THE ARMCHAIR EMPIRE, 10/10 GDXBox,GD D NEXT LEVEL G UGO, A- score XBOX MANIACS, Ed е GAMINGWORLDX, 9.0 s GAME VORTEX, 9 of 10 GAME CHRONICLES, Edit GAMING TARGET, 9.0 sc Blood Violence 18 EDITOR'S FORUM It was a very good year; Andy philosophizes on the year in review, and what to hope for in 2003. 20 GI SPY The Game Informer paparazzi stalks the video game industry, bringing you candid photos of all the action. 22 DEAR GI Fostering angry mail from exemployees one list at a time. Who's that robed guy with the beard hanging over Rio? | want cheap games! Is chivalry dead in the GI office? We are big, stinking liars. 26 NEWS Resident Evil 4 – ‘nuff said. Outlaws take to the beach for volleyball fun and fighting. Nintendo is definitely going next-next gen. Shinobi heads to Hollywood and Blinx scores a sequel. GBA gets to live on the TV. 58 PREVIEWS GI shows the newest info on Resident Evil Online, Psychonauts, War of the Monsters, Knights of the Old Republic, and the new Indy (-ana Jones, that is). Ogle screenshots of the greatness that is soon to come for each system. 14 GAMEINFORMER 86 REVIEWS Metroid fans have a pair of great games to battle through this month, at home and on the go. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Shatters everyone's expectations, with more than half of the staff reviewing it in some form. After a number of delays, did Splinter Cell live up to the hype? BMX XXX finally lays out its cards. Plus, a mustread review of Age of Mythology! 127 CHARTS What's hot? What's not? What's up? What's down? It's not NASDAQ, it's the Retail Sales Data and the Gl editors’ Top 10 Games. 130 PLAY TO PERFECTION: SPLINTER CELL If only the novels came with a roadmap this detailed, those conspiracy theories might start to make some freakin' sense. We take an intrepid secret agent through every last mission in a quest for the greater good. Crack through the tough spots, with your good friend, Gl. 136 PLAY TO PERFECTION: MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE 676 secrets, Fatalities unwrapped, and strategy to boot. Thank the big dork in the Sky for this one. Suck the marrow of Mortal Kombat (sadly, marrow sucking is not a secret Fatality) and perfect your blood-let- ting techniques. 140 SECRET ACCCESS What would video £ames be without sneaky codes to infuse God-like powers upon the couch-surfing masses? Hopefully, we will never know such a horror. 144 CLASSIC GI Rygar's NES iteration gets a Classic Strategy treatment for the month. NES classics Pinball, Urban Champion, and Ice Climber are put through the review ringer. See how those crazy plumber brothers scored before they got "Super." 150 ETC Things to put on that table in front of the couch (that's the coffee table). A new con- troller that makes Bond gadgets look as impressive as a block of cheese; and, to | be blunt, a video card that just kicks ass. GAME INDEX GAME Aero Elite Combat Academy . . . Age of Mythology . . Alter Echo ... ATV Offroad Fury 2 . Blood Omen 2 BMX XXX (PS2) . BMX XXX (Xbox) Capcom Vs. SNK E Clock Tower 3 .. Crash Bandicoot 2: N-tranced Dead to Rights (GC) . . . Dead to Rights (PS2) Die Hard: Vendetta Dragon Ball Z: Budok: Dragon's Lair 3D . Drome Racers . . Dynasty Warrioi Everblue 2 EverQuest: Planes of Power . Fatal Frame ...... FIFA2003 . Flat Out . F-Zero (GC) Galeria! Gladius. . Guilty Gear X2 E Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . . Haven: Call of the King Highland Warriors . Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb . James Bond 007: NightFire (GC) . James Bond 007: NightFire (PS2) ds James Bond 007: NightFire (Xbox) James Cameron's Dark Angel Kakuto Chojin ......... Kameo: Elements of Power . Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland . ў Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The.. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The . Masters of the Universe: He-Man Power of Grayskull . . MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead . Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance . 1 Metroid Fusion . . Metroid Prime . Monster Rancher Advance 2 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (GC) Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (PS2) . Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Xbox). . Murakumo ........... NCAA College Basketball 2K3 . NCAA Final Four 2003 .. NCAA March Madness 2003 Panzer Dragoon Опа... Phantasy Star Online Episode | & II . Phantom Crash . . . . POUR ў Robotech: The Macross SN Rocky . RTX Red Rock SeaBlade . Shenmue Il . . Shrek: Extra Large . Shrek: Super Party . Splinter Cell .... Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly Star Trek: Starfleet Command Star Wars: Bounty Hunter . . Star Wars: Jedi Outcast . Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic . Sub Rebellion . Sudeki Superman: The Man of Steel . Swingerz Golf........... Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven . . Tomb Raider: The Prophecy Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Top Spin . . Total Immersion Racing. Transworld Snowboarding Treasure Planet . Unlimited Saga Unreal Championship. . VRaly3 ... Virtua Tennis Wacky Stackers . War of the Monsters Wario World . Wreckless: The X-Men: Next Dimension ......: PlayStation. WWW.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM/VICECITY SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON EPIC RECORDS WWW.VICECITYRADIO.COM MATURE Viol " Mises 22, rong Language SEP с = * ья we. = тесе Ж; yy, “Soa рти] Strong Sexual Context MN e ESRB Rockstar Games, the Rockstar Games logo,Rockstar North and the Rockstar North logo ftware, Inc. "Epic" and Reg. at. & Tm. Off. Marca Registrada./C 2002 Sony PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. © 2002 Rockstar Games, Inc. lowing IDSA guidelines for M rated games in the marketing of this дате. are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Rockstar Games and Rockstar North are subsidiaries of Take-Two Interactive So Music Entertainment Inc.All other marks and trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved. Note: Rockstar will be foll This game contains violent language and behavior and may not be appropriate for persons under the age of 17. It is a comic interpretation of gangster activity and the story, names and incidents portrayed herein are fictitious. No identification or similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is intended or should be inferred. Any resemblance is coincidental. The makers and publishers of this videogame do not in any way endorse. condone or encourage this kind of behavior. 16 RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION NOW! Without a monthly fix of Game Informer, yov start to get cold sweats, your hands start shaking, and you hallucinate that bugs are crawling under your skin. So why suffer? Don’t delay! Send in the subscription card inside or, for faster service, order with credit card by calling (612) 486-6100. GAME INFORMER EINFORM JANUARY 2003 Volume XIII * Number 1 • Issue 117 PUBLISHER Cathy Preston EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andrew McNamara EDITORS Executive Editor Andrew Reiner Senior Associate Editor Matt Helgeson Associate Editors Kristian Brogger • Justin Leeper • Matthew Kato • Chet Barber Copy Editor/Contributing Writer Lisa Mason Mascot Arthur PRODUCTION Art Director Thomas Blustin Production Director Curtis Fung Production Assistant Rachel Nimerfroh ADVERTISING SALES Rob Borm Doug Faust (612) 486-6155 * Fax (612) 486-6101 (650) 728-5647 • Fax (650) 728-5648 rob@gameinformer.com doug@gameinformer.com Advertising Account Executive Amy Arnold * (612) 486-6154 amy@gameinformer.com CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT For change of address or subscription inquiry only: phone: (612) 486-6100 Fax: (612) 486-6101 email: customerservice@gameinformer.com or send correspondence to: 724 North First St., 4th Floor • Minneapolis, MN 55401 • Attn: CIS Dept Circulation Manager Paul Anderson (612) 486-6104 paul@gameinformer.com SUNRISE PUBLICATIONS, INC President John Woodson Manufactured and printed in the United States of America. The Editor welcomes company product information for all video games. Such materials should be addressed to: Editor, Game Informer® Magazine, 724 North First St., 4th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned or acknowledged. Entire contents copyright 2003. Game Informer® Magazine. All rights reserved; reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Game Informer is a trademark of GameStop, Inc. Products named in these pages are trade names, or trademarks, of their respective companies. PUBLISHER LIABILITY FOR ERROR The publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement, The publisher's liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is limited to republication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. INDEMNIFICATION The advertiser and/or Advertising Agency agrees to defend and indemnify the publisher against any and all liability, loss, or expense arising from claims of libel, unfair competition, unfair trade practices, infringement of trademarks, copyrights, trade names, patents, or proprietary rights or Violation of rights of privacy, resulting from the publication of the Advertiser's statement. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Statement of Ownership. Management and Circulation (required by 39 U.S. C. 3685). 1A. Title of Publication: Game Informer Magazine; 1B. Publication No.: 10676392; 2. Date of Filing: October 1, 2002; 3. Frequency of Issue: Monthly; ЗА. Number of Issues Printed Annually: 12; ЗВ Annual Subscription Price: $19.98; 4. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 724 North 1st Street, 4th Floor, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 55401-9022, Hennepin County; 5. Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: 724 North 1st Street, 4th Floor, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55401-9022, Hennepin County; 6. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor(s) and Managing Editor: Publisher: Cathy D. Preston, 724 North 1st Street, 4th Floor, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401-9022, Hennepin County; Editor In Chief: Andrew C. McNamara, 724 North 1st Street, 4th Floor, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55401-9022, Hennepin County; Executive Editor: Andrew Reiner, 724 North 1st Street, 4th Floor, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55401-9022, Hennepin County; 7. Owner: Barnes & Noble Inc: 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011, New York County; Names and Addresses of Stockholders Owning or Holding 1% or More of Total Amount of Stock: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011, New York County; 8. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1% or More of Total Amount if Bonds, Mortgages or other Securities: None; 9. Does not Apply; 10. Extent and Nature of Circulation: ‘Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: A. Total No. of Copies (Net Press Run): 723,996; B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation: (1) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales: 89,817; (2) Mail Subscription (paid and/or requested): 571,163; C. Total Paid and/or requested circulation: 660,980; D. Free Distribution by Mail, Carrier or Other Means-samples, complimentary, and other free copies: 38,173; Total Distribution: 699,153; Copies not Distributed: (1) Office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: 24,843; G. Total: 723,996. | certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. ~ Cathy D. Preston, Publisher. У vy | Things in the THE LEGEND ОЇ Д Д A LINK TO THE PAST Travel two parallel worlds to fight evil and restore peace in the land of EVERYONE Hyrule. Or, try the depths of the Four Swords dungeons in a new challenge Mild Violence where you take on the ultimate Wind Mage with up to four players. ESRE 2002 Nintendo. т», ® and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2002 Nintendo. WWW.Zelda.com TE. not the same in the dark Link with up to 4 Players | 4 IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR... As | look back on the last year, and think about all the great things that happened, | can't help but be a little disappointed at the same time. In my opinion, 2001 was one of the greatest years in video game history, with the launch of two new systems and a wide array of entertaining and innovative titles that pushed gamers and the industry to new heights. On the other hand, 2002, while solid on all fronts, lacked some of the novelty that made the previous year so exciting. A lot of this is due to the fact that a number of games that | really thought were going to blow me away ended up just being better than average. In my opinion, two of the biggest under- performers of 2002 were the first party publishing divisions of Sony and Microsoft. Both companies relied far too much on third-party publishers to deliver groundbreaking products and didn’t bring enough triple-A content to the market for their respective machines. Sure, you could say | am being a little tough on these two companies, as they did have some great games, but | expect more from hardware manufacturers. Just look at Nintendo, which had a huge year in my opinion. Not only did it put out a deluge of amazing first-party product; the company also managed to secure many high-quality third-party products, something that has classically been one of Nintendo's shortcomings. Heading into 2003, | know I’m going to keep an eye on Sony and Microsoft to see if they can step up and continue to push the limits of both offline and online gaming, because | have a feeling Nintendo will continue to deliver. History shows that 2003 should be a strong year for the current gaming platforms, but its success or failure is dependent on whether the big three can deliver the goods. Let's all hope they do, and you can count on Game Informer to keep you Andy McNamara dated th d | Editor updated as the year Gevelops. ^ angyegameinformer.com 1. Despite continuous vomiting, Chet stays on for another 275 laps to set a new park record. 2. Veteran Andy signals thumbs up, but novice Reiner isn't so sure about his position or those pigeons! 3. Kato and Matt attempt to set a new land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in their homemade jet car. 4. Lisa props up Kristian, who needs a beer to steady his nerves for one more shot as the “Human Cannonball.” 5. Justin just realizes he's making a 200-foot jump with a 204-foot bungee cord. 18 GAMEINFORMER REINER, THE RAGING GAMER reiner@gameinformer.com Since I'm an evil bastard who doesn't take the time to reply to reader emails, | figured I'd answer all of your questions within this tidy little editorial space. Here goes....“Reiner, why do you suck?" Hmmm... How did this letter get in here? It must be some kind of a mistake or something. Let's move on, shall we? “Reiner, | think you're a [expletive deleted] moron, and you should die a horrible [expletive deleted] death! You [expletive deleted]!!!” Um... This must be a joke. My friends are so funny! Ha ha ha! Next letter!!! “Dear, this is your mother. | found your blankey under your bed and | was wondering if you still want it?” Of course | want Mr. Blankey, mom!!! | mean...blankeys are for sissies! This letter must be for Kristian! Well...um...look at the time! My fans are the best! [sniff] MATT, THE ORIGINAL GAMER } matt@gameinformer.com l We've been hearing about the inevitable console online revolution for the last few years. With the launch of PS2 online and Xbox Live, the hype has gotten overblown to the point where we're actually starting to get a lot of reader letters worrying whether single-player games are going to become an endangered species. | certainly don't think so. In fact, | suspect that console online won't become a real mainstream phenomenon until the next round of new systems. For example: What's the biggest game in recent memory? GTA: Vice City, a classic single-player game. Yes, it's fun to bond online, but don't discount the fact that a lot of people (myself included) play games because they don't want to deal with the rest of the aholes out there їп the world. KRISTIAN, THE VIDEO VIKING kristian@gameinformer.com I'm not going to lie to you people; it's been a rough, rough football season. When the Vikings lose, | can't even bear to look at my Madden 2003, let alone watch the news or come into the office and face the barrage of insults hurled by the unfaithful. That's really how I've rediscovered NASCAR Thunder. You see, my home-based game playing goes in fits and starts. I'll be hopelessly addicted to one game for weeks on end, then as the attraction begins to ebb, I'll throw in something | haven't played for a while, and enjoy it anew. On that note, | highly recommend everyone try out Yoohoo if you don't already partake on a regular basis. It's a damn fine soft drink. JUSTIN, THE DIGITAL DEVIANT justin&gameinformercom ` { Time for my own year-end awards. Game | Played The Most At Home: Aggressive Inline. It's huge, and getting 100 percent takes a longass time. Game I'll Get The Most Flack For Liking: Animal Crossing. Wussy or not, | can't resist it. Most Overrated Series: Resident Evil. | just don't dig the crappy control and cheap "scares." Game That Elicited The Most Swearing: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - GameCube. Kato and Kristian were bad f enough to make sailors cry. Worst Time 1 Had Playing A Game: Mario Party 4. It's awful, and Chet's infernal taunting didn't help. Deceased Pet Scorpion Of The Year: Pucho. Rest in peace, little stingy. KATO, THE GAME KATANA kato@gameinformer.com 1 was having a conversation with Matt the other day (no, we editors don't communicate with each other through video game bleeps and sound effects), and | realized that mags like Maxim are ruining periodicals. Even older pubs like Rolling Stone are falling under the spell of skin and quickie, sound bite journalism. Yes, I'm aware of how ironic this sounds coming from a writer whose maturity level never passed the fifth grade. I'm just wondering out loud when the media in general is going to stop thinking that stuffing а bikini-clad girl in my face is going to make me buy their razor or whatever. Not that there's anything wrong with seeing said woman, but nakedness becomes devoid of sexiness when it's used as out of context as it is these days. They say men think about sex every five seconds. | guess I'm saying | want my four seconds back. CHET, THE JOYSTICK JOCKEY chet@gameinformer.com j i When | was gaming at other places prior to GI, we had to make predictions for the events in 2002. | claimed that Midway would have a surprising year of quality software, and | am happy that that prediction is becoming a reality. Mortal Kombat, Haven, Defender, Dr. Muto, and NHL Hitz have all proven to be at least solid. In fact, the only real dud that comes to mind is that Gravity — Game thing, but let's just forget about that. More than anything else, | would really love to see Midway make a comeback and revive our industry with some much needed American ingenuity. Congratulations to all of you at Midway, and keep up the good work! Oh yeah, this is an unrelated fact | discovered this month. Do you know the number one cause for the hole in the ozone is not cars, but cow gas?! A good reason to stop eating crummy fast food, no? LISA, LA GAME NIKITA lisa@gameinformer.com With the advent of DOA: Volleyball and BMX XXX, most of my mail has veered towards, “What do you think about nekkid people in video games?” Presumably, people are curious what someone with two X chromosomes thinks about the "objectification" of women in the pixel-based land of gaming. I think it's necessary. Really, the industry needs to experiment. Before we can have game styles as varied as movies, developers need to get the Porky's Revenge of gaming out of their system. | don't really believe that topless biking will encase the cracking glass ceiling in cement, and | fail to understand why these growing pains are different than films in the ‘60s. That, and they're really kinda funny games. p LIII This is hockey like Roenick plays it. Hard-nosed and furious. It speeds toward you so fast you don't have й Td So get tough or you'll be eatin; EVERYONE "hm: а А | À LIES WREAKIBAVOC ON | Viol E ч | iolence G y, кг THESE PLATFORMS GAMECUBE. | xeox ue CONTENT RATED BY ри = NHLPA ‚= — Sega is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sega, the Sega logo, and Segalorts are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega ffi ation. © SEGA CORPORATION, 2001. All Rights Reserved. www.Sega.com. © 2002 NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL lagaggnid marks amid team logos and marks depicted herein аг@ the property of the NHL and the respective teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterpriges, LP. © 2002 All rights reserved: © NHLPA. NHL 2K3 is an Offaly Licensed Product of the NHLPA. NHLPA, National Hogkey League Players’ Association and the NHLPA logo are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used under. license by Sega of Americaylnc. "PlayStation" and the ‘PS Family logo are registerad valemaks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.™, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks jarkS Of Migrosoft Corporation in the U.S. and/acin@liiar countries and "ча" license from Microsoft. ESBN Is айгайетагк of ESPN, Inc. ESPN branded elements © Disney. Screenshots taken from PlayStation 2. “ч | CANDID PHOTOS FROM THE SEAMY UNDERBELLY OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY 1 Microsoft's Xbox Live launch party drew -| the cream of the Hollywood crop, including | our hero, Brian Posehn a.k.a. "That Wierd | Guy From Mr. Show and Just Shoot Me." He is so much cooler than you! 2 Activision's Christopher Archer: Happy. Activision's Mike Larson: Sad. 3 THQ's Reilly Brennan and Outrage Games' Chris Pfeiffer watch while e Andy tries to hypnotize Game Informer read- |, Û ж. ers. You're getting very, very sleeeeepppy... Y | 4 When Chet's not dressing up as a Playboy * E bunny, he's going to dinner with freelancer / Thomas Layton, and LucasArts' Heather Twist Philips, Giselle Talkoff, and Alexis Mervin! We liked him better when he was a woman. 5 Enix's George Torii and Justin IE: Lucas, waiting patiently at Platform 9 3/4 for the Hogwart's Express. 6 Welcome to the | strange world of Double Fine's Tim Schafer. 7 GameSpy's Ben Turner, The Digital 4 Deviant, and John Gibson stop by the "King's 1 Head in a Gravy Boat" restaurant for some i 1 6 Curry in Tokyo. 20 > MIDWAY IT BEGINS AS A DREAM. | THEN IT GETS REAL. Bises lE ies ашды. сеа SEAMLESSLY BLENDED TOGETHER IN A MASSIVE UNIVERSE YOU MUST FIGHT TO SAVE YOUR PEOPLE FROM AN ANCIENT EVILa DRAW UPON EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER LEARNED TO FIND THE HERO WITHIN AND ANSWER THE CALL OF THE KING TO FREE YOUR PEOPLE FROM THE TYRANNY OF ENSLAVEMENT: HAVEN? CALL OF THE KING'S FREEFORMER GAMEPLAY MOVES SEAMLESSLY BETWEEN RACING, SHOOTING, FLYING, GLIDING, EORTING AND DOG-FIGHTING GAMEPLAY IN A SEEMINGLY BOUNDLESS UNIVERSE! ЫЫ Fall 2002 Coming 2003 Mild Violence > Li d PlayStation.? ff. i GAMEBOY. m EE m. NIS HAVEI El] HAVENsAMIOWAYs«COM Please put this in your magazine. All my friends think that the letters are staged; let's have my favorite magazine prove them wrong. Brad Belanger Via email No problem, "Brad." We'll be sure to tell your "friends" that this let- ter was "real." | loved your feature article in issue 115, "The 25 Greatest Moments in Video Games." However, | saw that nowhere on that list was the "All your base are belong to us" cutscene from Zero Wing on Sega Genesis! That moment brought a tear of joy to every gamer's eye, but it was not included at all! | know you can't go and re-edit that article, even if you wanted to, but | thought it should at least get some notice in an upcoming issue. Thanks! James Lirot Via yahoo.com Either GI's editorial staff is comprised solely of video- game neophytes, or everyone there is under 25 years old; otherwise, there is no way your "25 (Lamest) Moments In Video Games" would have excluded Warren Robinett's original Easter egg in Atari's Adventure. Gaining the mysterious microdot and discov- ering the secret message was not only THE defining moment for the world's first electronic generation, it was a defining moment in gaming itself. Programmers revolted against the Atari juggernaut, paving the way for a long history of developer credits, splinter compa- nies and hidden codes. Where would Secret Access be without the Adventure microdot? In fact, where would GI be? Probably being used to wrap fish along the Mississippi River. Critical GI fan and ex-Gl editor, Jon Storm Via stinkyfishbait.com Hey, it's always a treat to get scathing emails from former co-workers, so let's all give the erstwhile Greedy Gamer a big wet kiss! It's not an easy job to boil 30-odd years of gaming history down to 25 moments, and - as we said in the introduction – our list was by no means comprehensive. We were trying to bring some fond memories to light, and, at the same time, foster a dialogue amongst our readers, even if most of said dialogue was regarding whether or not the GI staff were, in fact, "dumb asses." However, a good many readers did mention "All your base..." and the Adventure Easter egg as the most glaring omissions. So, hopefully, this will give those two memorable moments their just due. Everybody happy? Probably not, but what's a list if it doesn't make people mad? Nothing - that's what!!! ^ Too much ofa good thing is bad, right? At some tragic point in gaming history, won't it become financially Send your comments to Game Informer. Snail Mail: Game Informer Magazine • Attn: Dear Gl + 22 GAME INFORMER impossible to make games any- more graphically detailed? People expect that future games will have the graphics of a movie like Shrek. Wouldn't this be expensive to develop? Shrek's animation cost millions of dollars. Gamers could- n't afford to pick up the cost, and most will agree when | say that 50 bucks is quite enough for a game. How are video game companies going to compete in the future!? Man, now I'm depressed! Anonymous Via email The hope has always been that improving technology will make it cheaper and easier to create more and more impressive graphics, but you do raise some good (and slightly troubling) points. In recent years, the number of people needed to make a game has skyrocketed, and development team sizes for blockbuster games can now be anywhere from 50 to 80 people. Throw in hardware investments, disc man- ufacturing, advertising, marketing, and administrative costs, and it's no wonder why games cost $50. This high price of doing business is going to be one of the key problems our industry faces in coming years, and it has already caused some significant changes. For example, notice the rate at which giant corporations like Sony, Electronic Arts, Activision, and Microsoft have swallowed up smaller publishers and develop- ment houses. The reality is that a lot of small compa- nies simply can't make it on their own in the high-risk world of next-generation console development. MEN Do you guys hate each other or something? You're always talking about kicking each other in the balls and in your dislikes | always see at least one editor putting down another. | just imagine the GI office with you guys sitting around in a circle, slouched in your chairs with your pants unzipped, belching, drinking soda, eating stale pizza, and growling at each other. | don't know how Lisa can put up with it. Sean Umphlet Via yahoo.com Hate is a strong word...intense dislike is probably more accurate. In your other accusations, you're a little off the mark. Now, perhaps you and your buddies like to "[sit] around in a circle, Slouched in your chairs with your pants unzipped," but we just don't get down like that — not that there's anything wrong with it. Do whatev- er makes you happy! However, you were dead- on regarding the stench in the GI offices. Chet, our resident vegan, subsists on a diet of broccoli and black beans, so you can imagine the funk that spews forth from his nether regions. Actually, you probably can't imagine it, so consider yourself lucky! | just had a few things | was hoping you guys could shed some light on. It seems that Rockstar Games has become very popular with Grand Theft Auto Ill, but the game that showed me it was a good company was the old PS-X game, Thrasher: Skate and Destroy. After the game's release, any info on it practically disappeared, meaning that it must not have done well. | know it doesn't match up with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but I would really like to see another Thrasher ported over to the PS2. It was more of a skateboarding simulation game, and | think most skaters would appreciate a title like that. Shawn Dawes Via msn.com Thanks, Shawn, for reminding us of a nice little piece of extreme sports history. We also liked Thrasher, scoring it an 8 back in our January 2000 issue. It's a really underrated game, and even more noteworthy for the fact that its developer, Z-Axis, went on to become one of the masters of the genre. Since then, Z-Axis began a collaboration with Acclaim that spawned such successful titles as Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 1 & 2, Aggressive Inline, and the con- troversial BMX XXX. Sadly, a Thrasher update will likely never happen, as Z-Axis was recently scooped up by Activision, the home of Tony Hawk. | was reading the new issue and saw the article about the Reservoir Dogs game for the GameCube. | was just wondering if this was a bogus article or if there is going to be such a game because there is no informa- tion regarding it on Nintendo's website or on the Internet. Chris Coker Via hotmail.com In your August 2002 issue, you guys had an article about an Xbox game called Decepticon Revenge. | am really interested in this game and | was wondering if you have news on its release date? Monkey RVD Via email We get about a dozen of these kinds of letters a month, so we thought we'd enlighten our read- ers (and the lawyers for the people that own the Transformers license). Repeat this with us ten times: The R&D section of GI News is made up. Basically, it's our attempt to suggest a few con- cepts that we think would make blockbuster games. These ideas may be silly (Sim Phish, Rascal SENSORS INDICATE THAT CHET'S WORKSTATION IS OFF THE SCALE! 724 North First St., 4th Floor * Minneapolis, MN 55401 Email: deargi@gameinformer.com iaa oe feret СЫНА ee | P 659 Сол Емес СМЕС Y - Га w Ching Mount E т zi LIVE IN YOUR W RLD. PLAY IN OURS Во. wird GREAT. д S p" : pre: E. тү геләү HIMBA калу Arip Bide Tjkouçy LOST СТ 07 Жарт трие CEAFT теман HANALAN LAVA Te Rive ARENE GLAOIEEE се Zo. 20м Add 8 more feats to your list www.playstation.com EVERYONE Comic Mischief Suggestive Themes demark of So nputer Entertain ed and de y Killer Game. ony Computer Entertainment America Inc. “P! ion" and the "PS" Family logo are s of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live 1 а trademark y ntertainment America Inc. Extreme Racing) or serious (Reservoir Dogs, Transformers), but they are NOT actual titles in devel- opment. So, don't drive your local video game store employee insane trying to reserve a copy of a game that doesn't exist, okay? You rule! All other magazines suck! Sandi Steeber Via email Gee, that's nice of you to say, but we've always real- ly liked Reader's Digest. | was playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 today with my friends. | was in the Rio level, when my system did something weird and | could move around wherever 1 wanted to. | was up on the hill when | noticed some- thing strange. Why is a Jesus-like sculpture looking down on the town? Paul Porcello St. James, NY The fact that you were able to freely move about the environment in Tony 3 was probably nothing more than a random software bug, but the Jesus sculpture you refer to is no mistake. Real-world Rio is looked over by the Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue, which, standing at over 108 feet tall, is the largest statue of Jesus in the world. Be sure to drop this little jewel of knowledge next time you're trying to impress a foxy geography teacher! Does Microsoft or any of its third party publishers have any kind of greatest hits lineup planned for the Xbox? Since the holidays are coming, I'm sure they could make a killing on some of their older games like Halo, Dead or Alive 3, Silent Hill 2, and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee. Have you guys at GI heard anything to that effect? Just wondering for all the ghetto gamers out there! Josh "The Ghetto Gamer" Fuentes Whittier, CA Sony's Greatest Hits series is one of the best deals in all of gaming, but if you're an Xbox fan waiting to buy Halo for a bargain price, you're going to have to wait, or pick it up used. We contacted Microsoft, and a representative commented that, although internal discussions about a discount line of games have begun, an Xbox Greatest Hits series would not begin until sometime in the second half of the year, at the earliest. Rest assured, as soon as we find out, Game Informer readers will be the first to know. 24 GAME INFORMER JANUARY WINNER! Jason Rodriguez “Damn you, Flanders!!!” Charles M. Atkins The Disney/Square partnership has gone too far! Enter the Game Informer Envelope Art Contest. All you need to do is draw, paint, scratch, spit, or carve the best darn envelope art you can think of and send it to us. Please include your name, phone number, and return address on the back of the envelope. If you’re the monthly winner, we'll feature your work in Gl and you'll receive a video game prize from the Game Informer vault. Sorry, art cannot be returned. Send to: Game Informer * Envelope Art Contest 1124 North First St., 4th Floor « Mpls, MN 55401 Salomon Campos Lazaro George Lucas is going to sue somebody! Travis Ord Knuckles does his best Lord of the Dance impersonation Lorenzo Ocampo The lost member of Insane Clown Posse JUSTIBE 8 ^ LER IG IU IE INJUSTICE FOR MLL | JUSTICE LEAGUE COMES TO THE GAME BOY ADVANGE When global catastrophe strikes and the world is in peril, the call goes out for the Justice:-League, the great- . - est super heroes of all time. Fighting for truth, justice and freedom, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter have banded together to fight for the common : good against the Injustice League іп an all-new action adventure title for the Game Boy? Advance. Featuring 12 levels of non-stop action, gamers will overcome dangerous obstacles, an onslaught of villains and dis- cover power-ups on the path to victory! се GAME PREVIEW ЯТ: р WWW.JUSTICELEAGUE.MIDWAY.COM = e Justice League: Injustice for All video game © 2002 DC Comics and Midway Home Entertainment Inc. MIDWAY and the MIDWAY LOGO are registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. All rights reserved. Distributed under license by Midway Home Enterta ainment, Inc. TM. @ and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. DC ane үа JUSTICE LEAGUE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. : ™ & © Warner Bros. RA CAPCOM REVEALS RESIDENT VIL 4 AND MORE Citing a "mission and responsibility to create something that is 'worth seeing" for the user," Capcom has created the Production Studio 4 development team. Its mandate so far is to create five games for Nintendo's GameCube. The first four – Viewtiful Joe, P.N. 03, Dead Pheonix, and Killer 7 — are all noteworthy for at least their visual prowess alone. But Production Studio 4's biggest and bad- dest project is the long-awaited Resident Evil 4. This fourth installment in the series is the directorial debut of Hiroshi Shibata, а man who was involved in Resident Evil 3. The studio's develop- ment pedigree runs equally deep throughout all its games. The other title's directors have worked on such blockbuster Capcom games as Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. The company's website featuring these titles has an English translation, so hopefully that's a good sign that these babies will be heading our way. Some call him "God | Killer," others just see an old man in a wheelchair. The | thing is, Harman. Smith has seven different personali- ties, and he's going to have to use all of them if he's to stop his nemesis — "God Resident Evil 4 Starring Leon S. Kennedy, this title takes place deep inside Umbrella, and early video footage of RE 4 shows that the series is looking better than ever on the System. Enemies swirl and form around Leon out of a menacing black fog in environments that are impressive even compared to Resident Evil 0. Capcom hasn't set a release date for Resident Evil 4. This title appears to be heavily influ- enced by Panzer | Dragoon Orta, | although it remains - to be seen if it can rise above that title's track shooter approach. Hands." .N. 0 1С. ва Vie Play as Venessa Z. = | ba In this side- Schneider, a merce- я ^ scrolling, cel-shad- ? ~ rt TEE ed adventure, PI [= AUT m == ( superhero Joe can Devil May Cry. ~ 26 GAME INFORMER activate different fighting styles like Slow and Zoom-In to defeat evil. SQUARE AND ENIX MERGE RPG giants Square and Enix have shocked the video game world by announc- ing that they will be merging into one company to be called Square Enix, Inc. This new partnership will take place in Japan, effective April 1, and is being done to maximize profitability amidst stiff competi- tion. Under the terms of the agreement, .81 shares of Enix will be traded for each share of Square. This will essentially make Enix the controlling entity, despite Square's prominence in the company's new name. Square Enix's chairman will be Keiji Honda (president of Enix) and the vice president will be Youichi Wada (Square's chief operating officer). "This merger is Enix and Square's answer to the biggest chal- lenge facing every corporation in the fast-changing entertainment industry — namely to sustain continuous development," the com- panies said in a joint statement. "Our aim is to become the best digital-content maker in the world." Under this new deal, it is unknown exactly what will happen to the pair's blockbuster RPG sagas – Final Fantasy (Square) and Dragon Quest (The long-running Enix series, known as Dragon Warrior in the U.S.). Will they be merged into one super-RPG? Will the games and their development teams remain autonomous? Little is known about Square Enix's future plans at this time. However, because one of the motivations behind the deal is to cut down on software development Square's Yoichi Wada (left) stands with Enix’s Yasuhiro Fukushima and Keiji Honda (from left to right) GI NEWS costs, a merging of some teams and titles is possible. Other issues are also at stake. Before this agreement, Square had inked deals with both Sony and Nintendo. How will these previous deals affect which consoles Square Enix's games come out on? It is very likely that this new company will stay predominately on the PlayStation 2, as in 2001, Sony purchased a 19 percent stake in Square. Game Informer contacted representatives for both Enix and Square here in America, but neither would officially comment as to how this merger would affect either company's respective American offices and products. However, a Square representative did say that it is expected that most pre-existing business deals the company had made (with Sony and Nintendo, for example) will remain intact. Ironically, the two publishers have historically been rivals. In fact, Square's vaunted RPG series Final Fantasy (appearing in 1987 on Nintendo's Famicom) was a response to Enix's genre- defining Dragon Quest, which debuted in Japan on the Famicom in 1986. Since that time, Final Fantasy has garnered more international success, pushed graphical boundaries in video games, and even Final Fantasy X for PlayStation 2 spawned a movie. Dragon Quest, mean- while, has yet to appear on the PlayStation 2, although DQ VII was the biggest-selling title of 2001 in Japan on the PSone. However, the two competitors (along with publisher/developer Namco) did swap shares in 2001 to distribute some of their development resources — a move that antic- ipated the formation of Square Enix, Inc. Dragon Warrior VII for PSone If you suck, at least no one will know who you are. | каги Irae. BROADBAND ONL Look for this icon on SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs and other PlayStation. 2 games with online capability. Я www. playstation.com. Online play requires Internet connection and Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2 (sold separately). "Е registered trademarks of Sony Computer Ente logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainn it America Inc. yStation" and the "PS" Family logos are rtainment Inc. SOCOM ©2002 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. “Live In Your World. Play In Ours’ and the ‘Online LIVE IN YOUR W*®RLD. PLAY IN DURS: Game Informer's research and devel- opment operatives search the globe, seeking out the untapped licenses that will become tomorrow's killer games. If you have any great ideas for | games of the future, be sure to drop | us a line. Maybe we'll use our godlike power over the video game industry to turn you into a millionaire — or just steal your idea. BLIND DATE: THE GAME America's #1 4 dating show, Gas] Blind Date, Glind Date: ШЫ perfect vehi- Welcome gu you on an adventure of laughing, liv- ing, and - if you're lucky — loving. The first order of business is building a cus- tomized stud or babe, using the deep Dater Creator mode. It would not only have physical options (build, hairstyle, etc.), but also personality traits. Are you generally cocky or shy? How do you react to embarrassing situations? Complete f е your character, and it's time for the date. Decide 3 The Legend which places to go and what activities to partake in. of Zelda: | Some girls may love a trip to the zoo, but others will fall sick with allergies. If you go out to the clubs, you run the risk of your better half either passing out drunk or getting picked up by someone richer, smarter, or hotter than you. Do you pull for a jump in $ x Hs the hot tub? Throughout the date, the AI will toss | 5 Twisted Metal: Black - PS2 cur veballs your way, which you will have to deal with as best you can. You'll never know how your date will react, or what will make them happy. After your good- night kiss (or slap in the face), it's showtime. Host Roger Lodge comes on to bring you a lengthy cutscene of highlights from the rendezvous, complete with witty commentary and animated thought bubbles inserted above the characters' heads — just like the show! THQ WIELDS WARHAMMER 40,000 Publisher THQ is preparing to unleash its first collaboration with Games Workshop: the tentatively titled Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior. The first-person shooter based on the popular tabletop war game will appear on the PlayStation 2 and PC this summer. THQ expects to follow with more Warhammer products later. Fire Warrior is being developed by the Brits at Kuju, and casts you as Kais, who is part of a team that has set out to rescue Ethereal Ko'vash from Imperial Forces. The game will take you through 17 levels and contains 22 types of foes and 16 different weapons. Fire Warrior also supports four-person multiplayer action. PlayStation.e SEA DOGS II BOARDS XBOX/PC Bethesda Softworks is back out to sea, and Xbox and PC are the ports of call for Sea Dogs II. Both will launch simultaneously this spring. Apart from offering tons 'o pirating fun on the poop deck, this sequel's got RPG features up the aft. You'll take control of either Danielle or Blaze — pirates looking for the lost treasures of their native land. Like the original, you can play off the political sides of other countries, although with a more linear structure that is still f | littered with sidequests. Improving on the first is the fact that land-bound e Ши © | environments will now be more fully fleshed out. This includes pirate caves NAME THAT GAME ar | and hideouts. Just about the only thing that could possibly make Sea Dogs II К more attractive would be a free parrot with every purchase. Even a pirate needs a friend. Using Mexican folklore and casting you as an employee of | the Department of Death aren't the only notable things Game Informer is looking for your Top about this PC Five favorite games. Please send your вате. In a Top Fives and a photo of yourself to: point-and-click world, this adventure game by LucasArts offered intu- itive keyboard gameplay, complex puzzles, and a seamlessly blended story that featured more than enough humor to satisfy. Game Informer Magazine ttr (Answer on page 32) 28 GAME INFORMER Gi NEWS THE GOOD, THE BA THE UGLY BAD - The European Commission has fined Nintendo $146 million for Whenever there's a juicy rumor in the industry, Game Informer experts are on conspiring with distributors to keep prices of its products illegally high. it like a fly on stink. If loose lips are spraying hot gossip, we're sucking up the Nintendo did this in order to limit cross-country sales. secret saliva and drooling it all over this section. These leads may turn out to В ; be 100% untrue, but then again, they could also be dead honest, and you've UGLY - Sega of Japan blames its sports developer Visual Concepts for ; ; a dip in кый roms. Eis also Snae aroni sports Wee TOL just learned about them months before anyone else! In the industry and need the GameCube entirely. to get back at the boss who fired you by spilling some secrets? Email us at ў loosetalk@gameinformer.com and we'll be your shoulder to cry on. We all want more Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and that's just what we might get. With so many underutilized areas in Vice City (airport, military base, stadium, etc.), we could be getting an expansion pack. This looks like it could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Here are some sequels already in development: Sega's Shinobi, TDK's Robotech, and Sony's The Getaway. All are believed to once again appear on the PlayStation 2. Loose Talk has heard from a good source that Microsoft is indeed prepar- ing an Xbox unit that will have digital video recording features within it like UltimateTV. It is unknown, however, if this add-on will be carried over into Xbox II. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon just got tighter. Nintendo's website lists that Conspiracy Entertainment is working on a GameCube version of the cult movie Tremors, starring Mr. Bacon and Fred Ward. Very few were disappointed that Acclaim decided to drop its NFL QB Club football franchise, and now EA Sports is looking to reap the benefits. Loose Talk has heard that the publisher is looking to hire former QB Club GOOD - Beer maker Anheuser-Busch and Microsoft are hooking up to put Xbox into bars throughout the country. Strap on those beer goggles and maybe even NFL Fever 2003 will look like a good game. BAD - Actor Vin Diesel promises big things for his new video game compa- ny, Tigon. Its first product is going to be a Grand Theft Auto IlLesque tale called Perrone. It can't be much worse than Act on's XXX. Can it? GOOD - What's the one thing that could spoil Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball from Tecmo? Dennis Rodman in drag. Actually, the ex-NBAer will thankfully only provide the voicework for the game's Zack character. poster boy Brett Favre for Madden NFL 2004. Now you can honestly say the whole world is against you. and/or products loped г ca Inc. "Play 2 АШУ үл ын LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD. 5 of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. PLAY IN OURS. 2 (sold separately). © 2 GI NEWS New Year's Eve is upon us. Everyone – from the most antisocial gamer to the biggest party animal — has big plans to ring in 2003. Still unsure of what you're going to be doing when the big ball drops? Let us help! Take this month's Video Game Trivia. Your score will tell you the best option for your New Year's festivities. And remember: Know when to say when. Question 1: Blizzard, predominately a PC develop- er, is working on Starcraft: Ghost for consoles. Amazingly, the company actually has console gaming in its roots. Which of these cartridges was not developed by Blizzard? A. Rock & Roll Racing B. BlackThorne C. Out Of This World D. RPM Racing Question 2: Martial arts accoutrements show up in video games all the time. One that doesn't get a lot of attention, though, is the versatile but dif- ficult-to-master three-section staff. Which of the following titles actually features the three-sec- tion staff as a playable weapon? A. Last Bronx B. Soul Edge ® C. Dynasty Warriors Ж D. New Legends Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a mis- sion in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4? A. Seek out rented skate equipment B. Ride behind a rampaging, pooping elephant C. Help a convict break out of prison D. Race a punk in a shopping cart Question 4: Bust-A- Move games have been published by countless companies over the years. However, only one company can claim to be the originator behind the bubble-firing puzzler. Which is it? A. Sammy B. Rare C. Taito D. Acclaim Question 5: Five people were racing. Edith did not come in first. Marty beat Edith. Edith beat Norman. Norman beat Sam. Abbot finished after Norman and Sam. Who finished last? A. Edith B. Norman C. Abbot D. | want a question about video games, you nerds! Question 6: Game Informer put the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on the cover in November 1999, becoming the first magazine to jump on the . Tony bandwagon. It wasn't our first choice, however. Which (SNIFF) Partying down with your Animal Crossing crew Burying your head under a pillow and sobbing softly Playing Jenga with your mom Video Game Trivia Answers: 30 GAME INFORMER game was originally pegged for that cover, but was removed at the last second? A. Pokémon Yellow B. Shenmue C. Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation D. Virtua Fighter 3tb Question 7: Before Metal Gear Solid 2, reviewed in the December 2001 issue, no game ever earned unanimous 10s from the GI staff. Which of these big-time titles received a 10 from at least one editor? A. Resident Evil (PS-X) B. Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis) C. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) D. Super Mario 64 (N64) Question 8: You're fighting Psycho Mantis, Metal Gear Solid's coolest boss and perhaps the best boss ever. He keeps reading your thoughts (and your memory card), and dodging any and all attacks hurled at him. What do you do, hot shot? What do you do? A. Smoke your in-game cigarette and let bygones be bygones B. Plug in the second con- troller and fight using it C. Go through the desk in | the room to make him cross enough to make a mistake D. Shoot yourself to cause him damage Question 9: The epic tale for the NES classic, Mega Man 2, supposedly took place in the future. According to the game, what year was it? A. 19XX B. 199X C. 200X D. AD 2500 Question 10: The Dragon Warrior RPG series is absolutely huge in Japan, where it's called Dragon Quest. Its fame led to a child-geared spin-off featuring the series' popular and portly shopkeeper and his "Last Hope." What was his name? и А. Turkoglu B. Torneko C. Timpari D. Tonotum Score & Rank Peeling the liquid Getting jiggy with Declaring yourself latex off of Dick Carmen Electra and Earth's Imperial Clark's mask 13 of her closest Grand Master male "friends" SOL 96 88 OL V9 IG 27 ПЕ VZ ОТ SIZZLING SETS WITH OUTLAW VOLLEYBALL It's Simon & Schuster's turn to spread its toes out in the sand. The makers of Outlaw Golf are back at it in irrever- ent style with Outlaw Volleyball, and unlike Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, this £ame actually has fighting in it! The composure meter is back, and has been extended to produce some serious one-on-one fisticuffs. Also making a blazing return from her sensuous debut in Outlaw Golf is Summer. Play her and 15 other characters through 16 loca- tions - including a jail cell. With these babes bouncing it up on the beach, the Xbox will be the place to be this spring. Things could get so hot, the publisher is even debating having two versions of the game: clean and not-so-clean. Developer Hypnotix is also working on Outlaw Golf 2 for a possible summer release. FIRST LOOK AT MIDNIGHT CLUB Il Rockstar will deliver a second installment of the street racer series Midnight Club for the PlayStation 2 in February. Versions of Midnight Club II for both the Xbox and the PC are expected to follow in spring. The Angel Studios-developed game will take the tire-squealing, law- breaking action of the first to new heights, incorporating motorcycle racing, and takes place in three locations: Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. Meanwhile, Take-Two Interactive has uired develop- er Angel Studios and has renamed it Rockstar San Diego, effective immediately. GI NEWS NINTENDO COMMITS PLAY GBA TITLES TO HARDWARE ON THE TV! At the GKM PlayTime conference in New York City recently, Nintendo of America expressed a Nintendo keeps hitting us with the great peripherals. firm commitment to hardware successors for the GameCube and Game Boy Advance for the First the WaveBird, then the e-Reader, and now the first time. Previously, the company had openly debated the need to stay in the hardware market, Game Boy Advance Player. This device will allow you to mulling a future where it would only make software. play GBA and Game Boy Color titles on your television Peter MacDougall, executive vice president of sales and marketing, stood before the audi- through a link and boot-up disc with the GameCube. No ence and proclaimed, "Nintendo is in the software business — to stay. Nintendo is in the hand- more squinting — this brings your favorite handheld into the held business – to stay. And Nintendo is most certainly in the home console business - to stay. big-time! Work is well under way on the successor technology to both Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Nintendo hasn't officially announced a price, but expects GameCube." No further specifics on these systems were given by MacDougall, nor was a the unit to sell for under $50 when it hits timetable announced by when these platforms would appear. the shelves before this summer. The Last summer, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo company already expects a few of Japan's new president, expressed his S £ames to be incompatible doubt on the need to constantly put out a 3i with this unit, but it shouldn't new game console. "The effort to produce " А E" be a widespread problem. The machines with better technology has Game Boy Advance Player reached its limit. If things continue, they ] р - will also support multi- may lead to the decline of the entire game | E player through a industry." Nintendo has also been openly у; ! link cable. skeptical of how important online play is to home consoles, as well as outfitting sys- tems with non-gaming functions like its com- petitors. Given how everyone's raving about Nintendo's latest platform, the GameCube, it's good to hear that the company is bowing to common sense and giving us more of what we want. Nintendo's Peter MacDougall No one will mind if you play naked. BROADBAND AND DIAL-UF < Look for this icon on ATV Offroad Fury”2 and other PlayStation. 2 games with online capability. www. playstation.com. Online play requires Internet connection and Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2 (sold separately). “PlayStation” and the "PS' Family logos are regis: » tered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. ATV Offroad Fury is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America In nc. Developed by Rainbow Stud ©20 LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. “Live In Your World. Play In Ours" and the "Online" logo are trademarks of Sony Cor Entertainment America PLAY IN OURS: GI NEWS FINAL FANTASY TACTICS OVERLOAD FOR GBA Square has just totally blown our minds with a new announcement regard- ing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. It will feature over 300 missions. Yes - that's the number three followed by two zeros. This fantastic amount is no doubt the result of Tactics' unique melding of the real and fantasy worlds. Even better is the fact that this handheld Final Fantasy will also feature over 40 character classes - a number that easily gives Tactics the most 4 classes of any other game in the genre. Add on the fact that this title will link up with the GameCube, and you've got a serious force to be reckoned with. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance should hit America by the end of this year. In other FF news, Square of Japan has just announced that it will put out Final Fantasy XI: Vision of Girade – an expansion disc featuring a slew of patches and new content. More evidence that U.S. gamers would sure love to have a PlayStation 2 Hard Drive. TWO NEW ZELDAS FOR GAMECUBE Here's a story that is going to result in some frenzied eBay action in a few months. Those lucky gamers in Japan who pre-order The Legend of Zelda for GameCube will be treated to a special freebie disc featuring two addi- tional Zelda games specifically made for the console. The first is a GC-remake of Nintendo 64's Ocarina of Time. It is unknown at this time if the game is merely ported over to the platform or if significant changes have been made to the title. Also on the pre-order disc is Ura Zelda. This planned as an expansion pack for Ocarina of Time, but it was never released. Ura Zelda was to appear on the 64DD, the failed N64 disc drive which came out only in Japan. Nintendo of Japan is reportedly preparing only 100,000 copies of this free disc. Game Informer contacted Nintendo of America to see whether or not it would offer these Zelda games in a similar program. However, we only received this reply: "NOA has not confirmed its Zelda pre-sell pro- gram for the U.S." Hopefully, the com- pany will deliver these exciting good- ies in some form or another, regard- less if it's a free pre-order gift or not. 32 GAME INFORMER game was originally DATA FILE » Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is splitting off into a few warring factions. The Xbox-first game will appear on the PC in January, and hit the PlayStation 2 and GameCube come March. >» Japanese magazine Famitsu is conducting a reader survey to poll opinions for Konami's Metal Gear Solid 3. The results will be forwarded onto the series' creator, Hideo Kojima. > Sega is readying more Phantasy Star. This time it's in the form of Phantasy Star Card Battle for the GameCube. The title should appear this year, and will hopefully link up with the Game Boy Advance. » Konami is finally bringing the world's best soccer game to the States. World Soccer Winning Eleven 6: World Evolution will debut on the PlayStation 2 this spring. >» A casting call has gone out for actors in Hollywood to see who fits a ten-foot red cowl. The Mindfire production company has received the movie rights to Shinobi from Sega. > In an effort to spark more Xbox games from Japan, Hirohisa Ohura, the system's managing director over there, is stepping down and moving to the U.S. to work with Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer. » Chet jumped off of a bridge after finding out that Unreal Il: The Awakening has been delayed until January. » Ubi Soft has a chance for redemption next fall, when it releases the tentatively titled Batman 2 for nextgen systems. Hopefully this time the game- play can live up to the already sharp graphics. »> Good and gooder news for Xbox fans. Developer Artoon is already working on Blinx 2, while Aussies Micro Forte have signed up for an Xbox-exclusive massively multiplayer online RPG. > The GameStop Road Warrior Tour is touring all over Florida, with GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox titles in tow. If it hits your town, be sure to stop by to play some games, participate in some of the contests, and just have a good time. >» You have to give to get. In exchange for a Brute Force delay to this spring, the Xbox £ame is strapping on some new features: system link capabili- ties (including co-op link play) and downloadable content. Name That Game Answer: oguepue4 uus WIN THE SWEET SOUNDS OF VICE CITY REL JN Swearing. The thump of a bat on flesh. Gun recoil. Chainsaws. These are the sounds of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Might we suggest, however, you chill a little with the soundtrack? Enter now for your chance to win the official seven-disc box set. Other lucky winners can lounge peacefully in these stylish tshirts. Like picking up packages in Vice City, huh? Well hopefully you'll be heading down to your post office for these goodies. Just don't carjack any- body on the way. Grand Prize (4) * The official Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack box set * A Vice City tshirt * Vice City sticker Second Prize (4) * A Vice City tshirt * Vice City sticker There Are Two Ways To Enter: (1) Send a POSTCARD with your NAME, ADDRESS & TELEPHONE NUMBER to: GI'S VICE CITY 724 N. FIRST ST. ATH FLOOR MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401 (2) Send an EMAIL with your NAME, ADDRESS & TELEPHONE NUMBER to: vicecityGgameinformer.com Your name will be placed in a pool of valid entrants for a random drawing to be conducted on March 4, 2003. GAME INFORMER'S VICE CITY OFFICIAL RULES 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To ete, send you name, ae, address, and telephone number on a postcard to: GIS Vio» Ciy, 724 FIRST ST. NORTH, «ТН FLOOR, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401 Or, өлай your name, age, ares, and telephone number to: vioecty@gameinlomer com. Ens must be received by March 4, 2008. One entry per person. Duplicated entres wil be squalid. Gane оте magazine (he “Sponsor is not responsible forlost, ае, mutlaled, gie, incomplete or misdreced entries. 2. PRIZES: Four (4) grand prize winners ий receive а Vica Cty soundtrack box set а Vi Gy thi, and a sicker (approximate retai value $62) Toe (3) frst pace winners wil receive a Vice Ciy tshirt and sticker (approximate reta value $12). Sponsor reserves th right 1o subs tute pize ol equal or greater value i prize is unavalabe, Prizes are non-transferable and no substations alowed. 3. WINNER(S): Winners willbe determined by random drawings of al val enties received by the Sponsor, whose decisions are final. Drawing wil be held on or about Mach 4, 00. Winners shal be гоно by ema andor slephone. Please alow six 1o eight weeks for delivery of prizes. 4, ODDS OF WINNING: The odds ol winning depend on number of val entries received. 5. ELIGIBILITY: Promaton open lo residents o! United States oniy. Return of any pizeprize пойїсайоп as undeliverable wil resul in dequacatn and an alterate winner wil be selected. Winner may be required to sign an affidavit of ekgbitytelaase ol abi pz acceptance within 14 days ot receipt or loei prize. f he winners a minor, hen prize may be awarded to winner's parent or legal guardian. By acceptance of prize, winners agree to the use ol heir пале andor kenes for purposes of advertising, vade, or promotion witout futher compensation, unless pohbted by aw. Employees of the Sponsor, Game Informer Magazine, and е parent and ftd companies and their tamiies are not ege, Nether the Sponsor nor its lates, subsidiaries, dion or related companies are responsible for алу damages, taxes, or expenses hal winners might incur as a. tesut ofthis sweepstakes or receipt ol prize. 6, RESTRICTIONS: Void where prohibited or restricted by lw. Sa MT CA нарктро— ——rTAUG-SO0-D0 fay ADEM AY nmol" mule uideo. UUU.MORTALROMBAT.MIDUAY.COM A aa А А NEU LEVEL OF INTENSE COMPETITION HAS ARISEN AS TUO POUERFUL SORCERERS HAVE FORGED A DEADLY ALLIANCE THAT NOU REPRESENTS EARTH'S GREATEST THREAT. AN ALL-NEU, LETHAL FIGHTING SYSTEM. THREE UNIQUE FIGHTING STYLES PER WARRIOR, INCLUDING HAND-TO-HAND AND DEADLY UEAPON COMBAT. OVER 20 NEU AND CLASSIC WARRIORS. EXTREMELY REALISTIC EFFECTS AND BRUTAL NEU FATALITIES. —HAPKIDO — ——BROADSU/ORDS-— &. 5 ڪر‎ —T-AI-CHI—— a = MATURE Blood and Gore Violence CONTENT RATED BY ESRB nce © 2002 Midway An Mortal Kombat: Entertainm Corporation in th Boy Advance on ido GameCube logo are trademarks of Ninren: LS. and /or other countries and ore used under license from Microsoft. Screen shots displ ® GAME BOY ADVANCE х PlayStation.g — *Xeox SO BRUTAL. SO EVIL. SO DEADLY. N . *.peadly Alliance is the m ost surprising, accomplished and üdictive game of (he year." 8 ч 9.78 out of 10 -Game nformer Tama raras h TE EA m y ra “DEADLY ALLIANCE MORTAL KUM BAT Y IT'S IN YOUR BLOOD. Now Available? GD MIDWAY ment Games, LLC. All rights reserved, MORTAL KOMBAT, DEADLY ALLIANCE, the dragon logo, MIDWAY, the Midway logos ond all character nomes ore trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC, Used by permission. Distributed under license by Midway Ноте y Station” aid the "PS"Fonily logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xhox, ond the Xbox logos ос d aro from the Xbox "^ video game system ither registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Simulation And Story Collide: Project Ego Becomes A Reality 34 GAME INFORMER Game Informer was first introduced to Fable, then known as Project Ego, during a closed-door meeting at the 2001 Electronic Entertainment Expo with the enigmatic head of Lionhead Studios, Peter Molyneux. If you have ever had the opportunity to meet Mr. Molyneux - which sadly many of you haven't - he has this ability to make any game sound like it's going to revolutionize the industry. It's an amazing skill, but lucky for us, he is usually right and tends to find develop- ers and products that push the envelope just as he describes. Peter's resume is proof of his ability, featuring gaming landmarks like Popu- lous, Magic Carpet, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White. There are both positive and negative observations that can be made about his former projects, but no one can deny that each and every one of these titles pushed the accepted boundaries and left players with experiences that simply couldn't be for- gotten. Whether it was cruelly punishing your followers to instill fear of your god- like powers in Black & White, or simply setting a trap for the hapless adventurers who had the poor luck of wandering around your labyrinth in Dungeon Keeper, COVER STORY he gives gamers memories that they will cherish for a lifetime. So, when Peter let us in on a screening of a short preview movie of his latest masterpiece, Fable, we were more than just a little interested. The imagery that Fable delivered was amazing, but details regarding this new piece of Molyneux magic were few and far between. Thankfully, this has changed. Recently, Game Informer ventured off to merry old England to find out why many in the industry are speculating that this highly anticipated title may well prove to be Lionhead Studios' greatest accomplish- ment to date. Gather around the fire, we have a Fable to tell... BW FORMAT XBOX Ш STYLE | -PLAYER ACTION/ROLE-PLAYING GAME Ш PUBLISHER MICROSOFT Ш DEVELOPER BIG BLUE BOX/LIONHEAD STUDIOS Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER › GAME INFORMER 35 o М 497 The Big Blue Box And Xb b sit turns out, Fable is '«k actually the work of a brand new developer by the name of Big Blue Box. However, the term *new" might be a little deceiving as its founders, Simon and Dene Carter, are longtime veterans of both the industry and Molyneux's unique approach to gaming, having worked closely with him on Dungeon Keeper. This partnership spilled over into the development of Fable, with Molyneux's Lionhead Studio giving financial and creative support throughout the project. “Тһе last two and half years of Dungeon Keeper we worked in the mr The camera can be set by the user, but if left alone it will pick the most cinematic view 36 GAME INFORMER back of Peter's house. There was an awful lot of conversation going on there about general game ideas, from ideas for Black & White to ideas for [Fable]," remembers Dene. However, the origins of the game date back further than that. The two brothers, who have an uncanny knack for completing each other's thoughts, actually began conceptu- alizing Fable during their childhood. Simon continues, “[Тһе original concept came to us] when we were about that age [pointing to a picture of them as children], because Dene and | were always coming up with new ideas for games. One day we came up with this rather fatuous ` E HET „+ 3 B М. and stupid design for the perfect game, which was kind of a role- playing thing which had everything in it. It was almost like a simulation of life in a role-playing world. This game is a piece of that." Trying since childhood to find the platform that would enable their dream to become a reality, Project Ego (as the game was tentatively titled) made stops on PC and Dreamcast before it finally found a home on Xbox. Once you start looking at all the pieces that make Fable the unlikely RPG that it is, it's easy to see why they needed a machine with the advanced capabili- ties of the Xbox. he centerpiece of any RPG is the hero, but in the case of Fable this aspect is taken to an extreme. In reality, Fable isn't so much an RPG, but a simulation of a world. The hero starts off as a young boy who must write his own tale. You can be what you want to be, for good or ill. Fable is built from the ground up with this in mind. All the characters have their own independent intelligence that reacts to the moral decisions you make 1 ie S de mulation throughout the game. Kill everyone and everything in your path, and the game will answer accordingly. Lead a chiv- alrous life, and you will attract ardent fans and the admiration of the common people. The objective here is to teach the player that everything has conse- quences and that you have to live with them. This aspect, at first, can be rather daunting, but once you start to see how things work it makes sense. Basically, our hero has two ways to interact with the people. You can draw your sword or give them items from your inventory to see how they respond. If you choose to kill them, a series of events can unfold. For example, if you slay one of the women in town and she just happens to be married, her husband will attempt to off you, and her children will cry and run away all as a result of that one choice. The amazing thing is that everything is presented to the player with very obvious animations and facial expressions from the villagers. You start off your adventures as a young boy, and from there all the choices are up to you There are various factions locked in eternal struggle during your quest. For example, if you wipe out some bandit camps outside of a village, a number of things could happen. The townspeople may take over the camps, or perhaps monsters from another area may invade to expand their domain. In this way, the game has an eternal ebb and flow rA. QU GAMEINFORMER 37 38 It's really quite astonishing to see. The children rub their eyes crying, and the husband runs around, shaking his fist, calling you out for the bastard you are. Of course, the game won't punish you for being bad. It's a very viable approach to playing through Fable, but there will be consequences. If you kill more villagers, the town guards will gather a posse and track you down, and you can pretty much » write off ever being able to buy any items Гог stay at the Inn. Conversely, you can be the noble hero. Give a woman a box of candies and watch her blush. Do it again and she may even take a liking to you. Clear out some of the bandits patrolling close to the town and you can return a triumphant hero, with children singing your praises and clapping happily with a gleam of admira- tion in their eye. They may even try to look like you, because quite frankly, you are the coolest thing to hit the town since that juggler with the bad limp. How people react to you is an easy way to monitor your standing with the Master the art of stealth, and you can climb | ow 5% through windows and pillage homes at night „фе GAME INFORMER various inhabitants, but Fable also has a Renown meter to show how good or evil you are being. Plus, every town features a Hero Podium where all the people will gather around to give you the overall temperature of the current public opinion. This can be an ego boost or a letdown, depending on how you play the game. Surprisingly, all this depth is found just in the town portion of Fable, as there is still a wide-open world full of monsters and mayhem left to explore. Advance- ment in Fable is not done through the conventional route of gaining experience to get more hit points and acquire new skills. Instead, your hero has all things available to him from the beginning and the player must choose which skills to develop. If you wish to go down the path of the mighty warrior, your best bet is to use your sword in combat to increase your strength, which in time will unlock combos that enable you to unleash bigger and better flurries. Of course, there are many different paths you can choose from as well, be it a magic user (or Fae, as it is called in the game), a bow-wielding ranger, a stealthy thief/assassin, or some combination of all of these. It all depends on the way you play the game. However, keep in mind that whatever direction you take will determine what items you can and can't use. For example, you can't be a thief in big clunky armor, and if you've never touched a bow in your adventures, you won't be able to hit the side of barn from six paces. To bring all these different choices to life, Big Blue Box has implemented over 600 animations to show your ability or inability to do different things. Equip a sword as a weakling wizard and you will drag the blade through the dirt and give a half-hearted, pathetic-looking swing when you try to attack. Try to summon a companion as a warrior, and you won't get a fly to follow your commands. Don’t even think about attempting to sneak into a house to steal some new goodies when in full armor, because your clumsy gait will surely give you away. The magic system in Fable, called Fae, is more about controlling the environment than classic magic. For example, you can slow time and even move air to push enemies about › = 3 P , COVER STORY There are many types of people you will encounter in Fable, including merchants, commoners, guards, bandits; and creatures like nymphs, screamers, zombies, trolls, golems, and dragons The wilds are full of many dangers. Some are as minor as developing allergies from sleeping outside for too many consecutive days, or as big as being bit by a Balverine and becoming a werewolf - permanently GAMEINFORMER 39 Gain enough combat skills and you can behead your enemies, knock them back, or head butt them ° Morp y "С: $ 5 Sr- ife in Fable is in constant motion. Just because you are away from a village doesn’t mean it stops growing, or that the inhabit- ants don’t continue to go about their daily tasks. The game is meant to span a lifetime, with each adventurer defining himself with the skills he learns and traits he gives to his character. To further the impression that Fable exists in a persistent world, the developers employ a number of technological marvels and a fantastic art team to flesh out the places and its people. For example, you will find various haircuts and tattoos that you can then take back to any town and have a local merchant outfit you with this new look. Find a fancy new cloak, try it on and see if it fits, because every person in the world has a different body type and some items just won't fit. Your character also can take on wounds in battle that, if left for too long without a bandage, will turn into scars. The hero and all the main characters in the plot will age as the game progresses, So if you spend too much time in the sun during your adventures, you will grow into a wrinkled and suntanned old man. Choose 40 GAMEINFORMER to travel under cover of darkness, and your character will be a pale looking creature of the night (much like many of the video game players out there). Characters aren't the only things that react to time and the actions that take place during the game. Weather is constantly cycling between rain, snow, and sun. The wilds of the world are home to numerous factions which are constantly going back and forth controlling differ- ent points. This means that a place that was once friendly can, in time, turn into a wasteland that you wouldn't want to venture into unless covered by the veil of night. Nothing can be taken for granted to be what it once was. The only exception we found was that the environments themselves aren't affected by seasons. However, the quest will take you to many outdoor locales, cities, and deep dark dungeons, each with its own theme. Of course, you will get to experience the snowy mountain and the volcanic rock areas that are the standards of most RPGs. However, the art team at Big Blue Box is to be commended on their work in this department, as the world AmdiPlaces-—2- " ї of Fable is simply gorgeous, achieving an unprecedented level of beauty. From the castles to the monsters in the world, everything has a very organic look, with some of the most detailed models we have ever seen in a real-time rendered world. To finish off the experience, Fable ,..; will also include many audio cues and cutscenes that give the player a feeling of being part of a bigger story. These also give evildoers and other creatures that menacing backdrop that will instill the player with the sense of fear and awe that is the mark of any good story. You won't hear the hero speaking to anyone, but almost all the rest of the interactions are delivered through voiceovers complete with lip-synching. Another interesting thing to note is the fact that you will not be the only hero in the world. Sadly, this doesn't mean Fable is Xbox Live enabled, as it is most definitely a single-player adventure, but rather that other Al-driven adventurers will be wander- ing the land. There are even outposts where you can check to see where you stand in comparison to the other heroes in the game, much like Pokémon Centers. You can pick locks with practice, grow strong in battle and gain the ability to score one-hit kills, and use stealth to approach opponents and silently slay them. Or, use stealth for avoidance and become a better thief. Of course, you can't sneak in full armor, so your character will have to fit the skills and traits that you wish f hen all the pieces come together, Fable really isn't anything we expected - and that is most certainly a good thing. Dene and Simon Carter, along with the rest of the team at Big Blue Box, are looking to break new ground in the RPG realm and it shows in both the product and their attitude. “[In most RPGS] you are nothing until you have brought back someone's cat, or rescued the entire village from [some threat]," explains befriend you and treat you like the fellow marauder that you are | If you go down the evil path, the bandits will Dene. "In which case, the only thanks you get is 'The thing you are looking for next is over there.' That's it. That's the sum total of your thanks. I’ve just saved you, your wife, your children, and your entire village, and that's all you're gonna do for me? That's pathetic." *| hope people will actually genuinely care about their own interactions with people [in the game]. | hope they don't just wander into town and say, ‘Oh, I'm gonna kill everybody.’ І hope they find themselves thinking that would be really cruel if they did that, and perhaps making moral judgements that they wouldn't normally make in a game." As you can see, Fable isn't just about the story or the adventure, it's about the people, places, and things you come in contact with along the way. d Already two years in development with no solid release date on the horizon, gamers will just have to wait for Fable to become a reality. It will likely change everything you ever thought an RPG should be. “\ The developers are toying with the idea of giving titles to the player by the things you do. Lose an eye and people may refer to you as "One Eye." Be good with the ladies and perhaps they will call you “The Charmer.” Or, kill lots of defenseless chickens and you may be embarrassed by your title of “Chicken Slayer.” THE BEST STORYLINES EVER. END OF STORY. Mature Sexual Themes Strong Lyrics PlayStation.e Violence The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment™ televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment™ logos are trademarks which are the Developed by Yuke's Co, Ltd. Yuke's Co.and its logo are trademarks of Yuke's Co, Ltd. JAKKS Pacific and the JAKKS Pacific logo are trademarks of JAKKS Pacific, Inc. THQ and the THQ logo are registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All W www.thq.com world Wrestling Entertainment Vorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Game and Software exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) 200 Rights Reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc ecl ÁO AES EMT | » HUT YOU, HHL! TH = 2002 THQ/JAKKS Pacific LLC. Used under exclusive license by THQ/JAKKS Pacific, LLC nom Last year, we thought, "It can't | get any better than this.” We were quickly proven wrong. With four | gaming platforms in their prime, and the PC market churning out an unprecedented amount of great a a if software, gamers in 2002 were like kids in a candy store. Game Informer dished out more nines than we can count, It seemed every month, another must-have was unleashed upon each platform. Many games surprised us. Did anyone really think Kingdom Hearts, an RPG full of Disney characters, could be this good? What about Steel Battalion, which has more intricacies to its controller than a real automobile? У Then there were those hits that we could see coming a mile away. Nobody would bet against Mario or Final Fantasy. GTA: Vice City was screaming bestseller from the minute Rockstar revealed its box art. We've been at this for a long time now - 11 years to be exact - but we — can honestly say picking qu “A the Games of 2002 was the most controversial, brawl-inducing, tear- filled debate to ever take place in the history of Game Informer. This is the fruit of our labor, whether you find it sweet or sour. METROID PRIME €, Platform GameCube | Developer Retro Studios | Publisher Nintendo | ESRB Rating T etroid in 3D seemed А almost sacrilegious, until we saw things from Samus' perspective. We then uttered a Keanu Reeves-esque "Whoa..." as we witnessed just how incredible the bounty hunter's world is. The unorthodox control scheme may cause FPS veterans to frown, but the scope and presentation of Metroid Prime cannot be denied. It retains all the exploration and secrets of the classic games, but brims with next- gen grandeur. A It's thrilling fo see clas- sic Metroid elements fleshed out in — E onsite | three dimen- In 4. a me ays sions. Platform PlayStation 2 | Developer Square Soft Publisher Square Soft | ESRB Rating E N epic like Square Soft. No company can craft a fantasy world like Disney. When these two giants pair up, the result is a grandiose action/RPG love story spanning the entire Disney universe. If seeing Cloud Strife and Winnie the Poo in the same game doesn't send you running, Kingdom Hearts will reward you with a tremendous tale, stunning о video game company can make an f Attack YO Magic BE items T IS 4 | ; CEO Ж visuals, and action-packed gameplay. A, j T 4 ZA | | " Kingdom Hearts a | à] v Y 4® t truly does deserve (iv ^ o the highest of JF accolades. 1 know the nesting grounds аге secret, but l trust them. - REINER FEATURE Worst Game of the Year Hoote j he saying goes, “You get what you paid for.” However, for the $10 price tag of Hooters Road Trip on PSone, it'd be a better deal to give that ten-spot to a high school place-kicker to practice his field goal form on your crotch. he main mode has you visiting various Hooters restaurants around the country. You must be knocking back quite a few brews at each location, because driving in a straight ine is impossible. Additionally, the pop-up, horrible textures, and Atari Jaguar-quality car models simulate impaired vision from intoxication. In theory, the payoff for all this torture is a special greeting from a "gorgeous" Hooters gal upon arrival. However, most of the girls' parents had to tie steaks around their necks when they were kids, just so the family dog would play with them. Best Sleeper Game of the Year 19 f We were as skeptical as anyone when we first got whiff of this game. Cutesy characters digging holes and fishing, and you call this a game? How wrong we were, Animal Crossing fever has spread to gamers worldwide, almost purely by word of mouth. It sounds so simple in concept, but nothing could be more entertaining. It takes you into your own fictional — but real- time — village with chores to do; a house to upgrade and decorate; NES games to play; holidays to celebrate; colorful neighbors to converse with; and dozens of bugs, fish, and fossils to collect. Add GBA connectivity, e-Reader cards, and memory card village trading, and Animal Crossing is definitely Nintendo's next big thing. Fight it all you want, tough guy. Once you play it, you're hooked. 45 GAME INFORMER FEATURE Best Graphics in a Video Game Evil Zero The premier survival horror franchise has always soared visually. Capcom's GameCube remake of the original Resident Evil showed just how SOCOM: US NAVY SEALS frighteningly good a next-gen title could look. а But when it brought a new, original entry to the Platform PlayStation 2 | Developer Zipper Interactive v БЕ шаш SECUS ЕДА ЕДЕД Publisher Sony Computer Entertainment America i been upped yet again. The game's character ESRB Rating M models are über-realistic, and the monsters are some of the most grotesquely detailed, hen Sony brought online to the millions of PS2 putrid creatures imaginable. These two classes owners, it needed something big from the get-go. uer wage gory battles in beautifully rendered SOCOM not only gives you multiplayer, broadband [ АНИ ib environments that push the GameCube to its deathmatching, but it does so while allowing you to 4 ' JE: А ER limits. No longer static, the backdrops feature seamlessly converse with anyone on your team. The single- ff L SPECTRE animations in every nook and cranny. These player offline missions, which also utilize the included voice vivid scenes will be replayed time and time communicator, seal the deal to place SOCOM among the E j again in your worst nightmares. Sleep tight. year's best. AT SOCOM will k 7 | forever change the way you 4 play games. = REINER Worst New Character in a Video Game EA took some of its billions of dollars, invested in a time machine, and traveled back to 1986. How else could you explain its new platformer mascot, Ty? Back then, Australian culture was all the rage, and long, loud shorts could be worn without fear of ridicule. No sane person could’ve possibly come up with the concept for Ty in this millennium. He wears coal miner's gloves, jams, and a handkerchief around his neck. He throws boomerangs. If we weren't told he's a “tasmanian tiger,” we'd be clueless as to his genus and species. We JEDI OUTCAST | Platform РС, Xbox, GameCube | Developer Raven Software | Publisher LucasArts | ESRB Rating T is damn good, but when you add 1 A Star Wars first-person shooter unbelievable third-person lightsaber won't be having a g'day until 100 sequences, it becomes one of the Games of Ty's foul image is gone from i 4 i BEN the Year. The sensation of using Jedi powers our memory. : is captured flawlessly. Even if you can't tell | stunning FPS of the highest caliber. The Force is t ы | awookiee from а wedgie, Jedi Outcast is a ? Wi Y strong with this one. v M Oh dear God, this is a ГД «ool game. 46 GAME INFORMER “HOSOJOLN шоу әѕиәоу зарип pasn әле pue seununoo 1010 Jo/pue "s eu ur uoneJodi07 HOSOI jo $узешәред 10 syıeluapes} P3491163) 1әциә eje ѕобој XOQX au pue "ходу ‘300101 "ош 1иәшшергиз Jenduio») fuos jo $знешәред pajensibeJ әле 060) Аүшеу „Sd, 2U} pue ,LONEISAEd,, "op UIN JO ѕјешәред әле обо aqngaweg ориәш au; pue eaueApy Aog aures @ 'W "20 уиашшенаиз әшон еру] Aq әѕиәоц Japun Pa;NqUISiG "IUJ San SUED ABMpIWY Jo yeulapen e st Q1( ‘HO "voisstuuied Aq pas "911 ‘saweg jusuresnuiy Леллру Jo seuepen paraystba) ae 0607 Áe/pi aly pue AYMGIW "pase 81401) y “OUI SANA Saweg KEMP! 2002 © ONW 20 uoog Suit) 3ONVAGN 409 ЗИМ 16 7003 ма WAAON шоәэ'Кем AVMGIM > ff aeuoneysAeid Ap as efenfue] р jenjosiyy 91w09 HOLVM SAIN QT30A, "шоре иопеләцә8 xou sosto[pi әшедоәріл OY Id, uoa ip jpsino& 10у o3pnf преш Joyjoue asni 10 1] Amu) 15] 7 IP оү I] ST зошт pas pu SƏNISONSUOUI ysoeay ‘saotaap Surpuoq-pur nd Sumgeq JO SIAM ا If you look closely, you can see that famous highland mullet x e p P & чё И » кт Men wearing huge metal masks tend to give opponents that "not so fresh" feeling W STYLE 1 TO 8-PLAYER ACTION/STRATEGY Ш PUBLISHER DATA BECKER Ш DEVELOPER SOFT ENTERPRISES E RELEASE JANUARY 82 GAME INFORMER E STYLE | ЧОО ууу ` UUU WARIO WORLD | DON'T NEED YOUR CIVIL WARIO Wario gets no respect. His ony plattormers have been on Game Boy systems. Nintendo gave him a Jimmy Durante nose, so is there any wonder he turned out a little less than valiant? Even you don't give him his just props. Yeah, you! How many times did you pick him in Mario Kart, huh? You always have to be Yoshi, or that squeaky punk Toad, don't you? We thought sı Wario is ge his revenge on those who have dissed him. Come February, he'll get a brand new platformer. This time, it's on GameCube, and will get all the applicable trimmings. The graphics have the sharp, cartoony splendor of Mario Sunshine. Wario himself moves just as you'd expect from a rotund, jaded star with his belly jiggling as he waddles around. The game's fixed camera eliminates complaints that it's in the wrong place at the wrong time, so if you mess up, Wario has every right to take it out of your behind. This guy looks like a Pokémon reject... Since Wario is the anti-hero, expect some of his trademark misfortunes-turned-powerups. This guy has а way of not letting anything hold him back from his greedy goals, and taking every consequence in stride. The new 3D perspective, as opposed to the side-scrolling that the yellow fellow is used to, obviously affects the gameplay. Wario engages in hand-to-hand combat often, punching and kicking his foes with reckless abandon. He'll also use his girth to lift enemies overhead, and give them а good toss. It won't be easy for a perennial 2D game to make the transition to three dimensions, but it would be absolutely moronic to bet against a Nintendo property – especially after the string of hits it has done on GameCube. Wario is a unique character, so detestable that you can't help but laugh at him. Let's just hope this console game finally gives him the respect he deserves. Wario's so bad, he'll piledrive a snake! ...While these enemies resemble Pikmin mummies -PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM if PUBLISHER NINTENDO Ш DEVELOPER NINTENDO Ш RELEASE FEBRUARY 1 pras wem JEDI OUTCAST Jedi. Outcast. Rebel. Mercenary. You have one lightsaber and eight Jedi Force powers, including Jedi Mind Tricks, Fórce-Eightening and Force Grip. With a devastating arsenal of weapons like disruptor rifles, thermal detonators, trip mines and a Wookiee bowcaster you must battle a hoard of new enemies. Fight in single mode or go lightsaber against lightsaber in split-screen multiplayer Jedi arena — or die trying. Learn more at jedioutcast.com ТРЕ I - ПЁ а | ; NINTENDO X [ M т Violence @ GAMECUBE АС I ISION. шү xXeox e b. ^ j PHOTOPHILE CPLAYS Jn ' Ё | Y i a i о, уу y jt Y Enterbrain is banking on the idea that people will remember Ash's PlayStation precursor enough Aero Elite is looking to eclipse the intensity and realism of games like Ace Combat 4 with that they'll be interested in purchasing a sequel. This installment has Rion battling against the numbers and action. Over 60 of the world's most high-performance aircraft will grace your Last Galerians - a breed of psychic computer creations that are threatening the world. You see; screen - but they won't all be jets. Sure, you'll have the requisite supersonic fighter planes, Rion is the only person on the planet with the mental powers to defeat these nefarious foes. but you'll also fly nimble and heavily armed attack choppers as you gear up your character for What will happen? We have no clue, nor do we want one. Ash is due to release this winter. intense aerial combat. Sega hopes to have this title on store shelves by the end of March. Here's a racer with a little more depth than meets the eye. Flat Out is being developed by a Finnish firm dubbed Bugbear, and interestingly enough, the title will have nothing to do with Dungeons & Dragons. ! This online-compatible racer will give people a car's-eye view as well as a third-person perspective which will allow gamers to walk around their environments and talk with ‚ other characters without , that pesky windshield getting in the way. Flat Out is scheduled to release in the summer and will feature Xbox Live compatibility. ( GAMECUBE/ARCADE ) | F-ZERO GC | : " a | PHOTOPHILE -NUImPT | CLOCK TOWER 3 I n hr] Ж? It's going to be a scary winter, especially with Clock Tower 3 on the way! Capcom is giving horror buffs another way to get their fill with this sequel. The main character, Alyssa, will find many bizarre happenings inside a London hotel. After falling into a dimension created by a time/memory warp, she is assailed by evil spirits and restless ghosts, and can eventually explore the entire city. Hold on to your colostomy bag, grandma! Things are about to take a turn for the weird. GEAR X2 g — E 4 F-Zero was the shizzy on the SNES, good fun on the GBA, and decent on the N64. Now, Nintendo has tapped Sega's Amusement Vision development house to create a brand-new GameCube update of the legendary racer. Captain Falcon is back, along with a host of characters both old and new. Nintendo and AV are promising that this new F-Zero will have the graphics and speed it takes to compete with the best next-gen racers, in addition to a deep multiplayer mode and a possible track editor. Even better, you'll be able to take your save data to the arcades and upload it into a new arcade unit, entitled F-Zero AC. e dh PLAYSTATION 2 | If you're anything like Chet, you can't wait to play this game. (“It’s sooo cool that they used high- tes sprites for this game, unlike Capcom Vs. SNK...") This is true, but the fact he knew this off the | U N LIMITE D SAGA top of his head is as impressive as it is pathetic. Regardless, Sammy's next-gen fighter is looking E Е Р polished and clean, and we hope to be seeing it іп stores sometime this winter. j ў ( XBOX _ MURAKUMO 5 | я ; | : A Br Ў | ў E E Ubi Soft is bringing a very Japanese battle mech game, Murakumo, to American shores this spring. Featuring mobile armored suits called A.R.K.s (Artificial Reflexive Kineticoid), this game revolves around robots gone wild! It's your duty to protect the Earth from A.R.K.s that want to destroy everything. How do you do that? By destroying the destroyers, of course. Huge environments await your devastation, but try to take out the bad guys too, okay? GAME INFORMER 85 There are high hopes, and even higher demands on the impending release of Unlimited Saga. The team building the game is captained by Akitoshi Kawazu, who is known for his efforts in previous Saga titles, as well as The Legend of Mana. Look for more info on the American version of Saga as its springtime release date grows nearer. à Our crack (or crackhead, we can never decide which) review THE SCORING SYSTEM CONCEPT Game Informer's rating system ranges from O to 10, and is similar to school What new ideas the game brings to grading. 7 is average, 9 and above is exemplary work, 5 and below is a failure. — the table and how well old ideas are Aside from concept, entertainment, graphics, playability, sound, and replay value presented. (all explained to the right), other factors that influence a game's final score are GRAPHICS how much game you get for your money and how all the game's elements come How good a game looks, taking together. into account any flaws such as bad ТО - Perfection. One of the best games of all time, if not THE best game of all collision or pop-up. time. This game has no flaws, and thus this rating is rarely given out. SOUND 9 - Worth owning. Fans of the genre should definitely enjoy this game, but even Does the game's music and sound those who don’t normally like this type of game may find themselves getting effects get you involved or do they hooked. make you resolve to always play with the volume down? REPLAY VALUE The longevity of the title. * High — You'll still be popping this вате in five years from now. * Moderately High – Good for a long while, but the thrills won't last forever. team rates games in a number of categories to help you sort out the great from the stuff you hate. Each game is reviewed by at least two staff members, and you will find both their opinions on each review. To make things a little * Moderate – Good for a few months or a few times through. * Moderately Low - After finishing it, there's not much reason to give it a easier we have put together some second go. definitions of what the numbers mean, what the reviewers are like 8 - Worth playing. Still a great game, but arguably so. It may not be the best ever, but there's enough to keep your fingers wrapped around the controller for PLAYABILITY some time. Basically, the controller to human A А " Р interface. The less you think about 7 - Worth renting. Unless you're a fledgling gamer, you've probably seen every- the hunk of plastic in your hands, the * Low - You'll quit playing before you complete the game. (so you can find the reviewer most like yourself), what we look for in thing this game has to offer before. Still, just checking it out won't ruin your better the playability. © Соіаи занае, [ех ч а game, and also a cheat sheet weekend. E RTAINMENT EL 17 and older. Content suitable only for adults, so the newbies can understand our advanced video game jargon. Read on and soon you will be talking FPS and FMV with the best of them. 6 - Limited appeal. There are always a few people who will fall in love with a Flat out, just how fun the game is game of this caliber, but for the most part, those playing it will be yearning for to play. The most important factor in something more. rating a game. 5 & BELOW - Garbage. From this point down, it's just a matter of how much of a failure the game is. The lower the score, the more you're hating life Content suitable for persons ages 6 and older. | Content suitable ШЕЙ Product is for persons ages RP awaiting final 13 and older. ЗА | rating. 86 for playing it. ANDY Handle: The Game Hombre Expertise: RPGs, Action/Platform, Racing, First-Person Shooters Interests: Creating The Ultimate In-Home Computer Network, High-Res Flat Screen Monitors, South Park Season One DVD Dislikes: Imitators And Player Haters, Whoever Is Taking My Pen, Internet Service Providers Current Favorite Games: EverQuest: Planes Of Power, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance MATT Handle: The Original Gamer Expertise: First- Person Shooters, Puzzle, Action/Adventure, Action/Sports Interests: The Packers. Getting Smacked Down At The Dome, Devin The Dude: Underrated Rap Genius, Billy's Victorian, Mission Of Burma Dislikes: Contrarian Fake Packer Fans, Having No Willpower, Credit Card Debt Current Favorite Games: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, James Bond 007: NightFire, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Crash Bandicoot: N-Tranced JUSTIN Handle: The Digital Deviant Expertise: Action/Sports, Action/Adventure, Fighting, RPG Interests: Girlfriends Who Survive The Mosh Pit For The Whole GWAR Show, Family, My 40,000+ HRA Rating, Cee-Lo Green Dislikes: Falling On My Ass, Bugs In Released Games, Having To Call The Cops On My Neighbors At 5:00 AM Current Favorite Games: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Metroid Fusion, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Animal Crossing, NBA 2K3 CHET Handle: The Joystick Jockey Expertise: Fighting, Action, RPGs, FPS, Shooter, Platform, RTS Interests: Pecan Cheese, Buy Nothing Day (Nov. 29), Michael Moore's Stupid White Men And Bowling For Columbine, Horror Flicks And Books Dislikes: WTO, SUVs, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, White Castle, Arby's, Carl's Jr., Jack In The Box, Kentucky Fried Chicken Current Favorite Games: Capcom Vs. SNK EO, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Haven: Call Of The King GAME INFORMER When Andy's not yelling at a game for “rippin’ him off,” he plays drums in Minneapolis indie rock band, Unbelievable Jolly Machine. A longtime fan of Metroid, Andy has been reviewing video games professionally since the days of the 8-bit NES. While a big sports fan in real life, Andy isn't the first to line up for sports titles, but is always willing to put in the extra hours to play a good RPG or strategy game. While record collecting, watching reality television, and playing video games might sound like a state of retarded adolescence, Matt manages to scrap together an almost meaningful existence out of these activities. His encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture is either amazing or annoying, depending on how close your desk is to his. Less esoteric than his colleagues, Matt prefers traditional action and platform games. Unlike most gaming jabronis, Justin knows there's life outside video vegetation. He's a former GWAR slave and moonlights as wrestler Justin Lee in the Minnesota independent scene, where he violently bonds with other sweaty males — a practice that just gets blank stares when attempted on other GI reviewers. Justin's gaming tastes are highly old-school, and he plays 16-bit classics as often as he plugs into the latest titles. Chet considers gaming to be a lifestyle, which means that he spends a ridiculous amount of time with his games. When he's not in an intense session with his UT clan, or relaxing with one of his consoles, he's hopelessly seeking out arcades where fighting games still rule. Although he places all other activities at a distant second, he realizes the importance of society. Unfortunately, mimicking the motions for Dragon Punches and Fireballs only confuses and scares most people. REINER Handle: The Raging Gamer Expertise: RPGs, Fighting, Action/Platform, Strategy, Sports Interests: Book-To-Movie-To-Game Translations (I Just Like Saying It), Star Wars: Episode III (T-Minus 943 Days And Counting), The Care Bears Dislikes: Matt's So-Called Chamber Of Secrets (Gross, Оийе!!!), Casey Affleck (He's Related To Ben So He Must Suck), Rainbow Brite Current Favorite Games: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Haven: Call Of The King, Suikoden Ill, Metroid: Fusion, Metroid: Prime KRISTIAN Handle: The Video Viking Expertise: RPGs, Strategy, Sports Interests: Replica NFL Mini Helmets, A&W Root Beer Floats In A Frosty Mug, Josh Wink, Amp Dislikes: Car Trouble, The Fact That Athletes From Other Countries Train And Live In The U.S. Then Don’t Represent The U.S. In International Competition Current Favorite Games: NASCAR Thunder 2003 (Xbox), MechWarrior: Mercenaries, Age Of Mythology KATO Handle: The Game Katana Expertise: Sports, Racing, Action/Adventure, Action/Platform Interests: The State Of Hockey, Sarah Shannon, The Ring, Punch-Drunk Love, Reading Instead Of Always Playing Vids Dislikes: Getting Suckered Into Special Edition 4-Disc DVDs (And Liking It), Bandwagoners Current Favorite Games: Psychonauts, V-Rally 3, The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, Shenmue II LISA Handle: La Game Nikita Expertise: Puzzle, RPGs, Action/Platform, Horror Interests: The Lord Of The Rings (Long DVD Version), Roasting Vegetables And Not Ending Up With Mush, Dreadlock Maintaince, Jewerly Dislikes: Street Cleaning At Inopportune Times, Sold- Out Animal Crossing Cards, Tape That Doesn’t Stick, Dogs That Bite Current Favorite Games: Resident Evil O, Animal Crossing, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Fatal Frame Reiner considers himself the biggest Star Wars fan in the world. Along with his impressive collection of Star Wars action figures, he has seen the trilogy 615 times. A fan of all game types, role-playing games are his strong suit. In his six years as a professional gamer, Reiner has achieved the impossible. Penetrating the pixel boundary, he not only plays games, he's in one, and can be shot daily in the epic N64 release, Perfect Dark. Kristian enjoys opening a can of whoop-ass on his buddies at the ping pong table, then running off to the driving range for a lesson in humility and anger management. The original text-driven Zork started Kristian on the gaming road; Ultima 6, NES Baseball, and Zelda made sure he stayed. Still an avid RPG fan, he can always find time to pound out a good sports game. When not buying copious amounts of records, Kato can be found exercising good taste, feeding the goats, and trying in vain to update his wardrobe into the 21st century. Like other young men of his generation, he quickly found out that the one true real world application of good grades was the free arcade tokens that were given out as a reward. With allegiance to none, he takes on every game with an equal eye. Barring a brief and ill advised “I want to be popular, so I'll stop playing games” phase in late junior high, Lisa has been subjecting her friends to drawn out boss battles since age 8. She has been known to wax philosophically about why Jigglypuff is desperately under-appreciated and wish that some “big” games were more fun, even if that means less pretty. For our newer readers, here is a glossary of terms and acronyms that commonly appear in the magazine. Video game veterans should move along (these aren't the droids you are looking for). action — A term we use for games like Zone of the Enders and Gauntlet adventure — A term we use for games like Myst and Escape From Monkey Island Al - Artificial Intelligence. Usually used to refer to how well the computer reacts to a human opponent board - A term we use for games like Jeopardy! and Mario Party bump-mapping — A technique where varying light effects simulate depth on textures cel shading- A technique used to create 3D rendered objects that resemble hand-drawn animation cels CG - Computer-Generated graphics ЕЗ - Electronic Entertainment Expo. The world's. largest convention for video games fighting - A term we use for games like Street Fighter and Dead or Alive FMV - Full Motion Video. Usually refers to an animated CG cutscene FPS — Frames Per Second. How many animation frames happen in one second. Also used to denote FirstPerson Shooters like Doom, GoldenEye, & Unreal Tournament framerate — The frames of animation used to create the illusion of movement frontend — A game's menus and options GBA - Game Boy Advance GBC - Game Boy Color GC - GameCube isometric — Three-quarters top down view, like StarCraft or Red Alert 2 ISP — Internet Service Provider. The company that provides you with access to the Internet Jaggies – Graphical lines that are jagged when they should be straight LAN - Local Area Network. Connecting computers or consoles together within a small space to allow communication between them. Provides fast, simultaneous gameplay minigame — A small, simple game within a larger one motion-capture — Using human models and infrared cameras to record movement for game animation. Also mo-cap motion blur — Phantom frames follow an object to give the impression of realistic speed N64 - Nintendo 64 NES - Nintendo Entertainment System NPC – Non-Player Character. Those people and creatures you see wandering around in games that are not being controlled by actual humans peaces - The new slang Chet recently used instead of saying "peace out," his usual parting remark platform — A term we use for games like Super Mario and Crash Bandicoot pop-up – When onscreen objects, usually distant, suddenly appear PS2 – Sony PlayStation 2 PS-X — Sony PlayStation particle effects — Things like smoke or sparks created in real-time PKer — Player Killer. This is a person who thrives on killing newbie or vulnerable characters in MMORPGs or shooting their teammates in games like Counter-Strike puzzle – A term we use for games like Tetris and Chu Chu Rocket. racing — A term we use for games like Gran Turismo and Mario Kart RPG - Role-Playing Game. А game that involves character improvement through collecting and spending points. A term we use for games. like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior Shooter — A term we use for games like Mars Matrix and Gradius SNES - Super Nintendo Entertainment System sports – A term we use for games like Madden NFL Strategy – A term we use for games like Command & Conquer and Fallout Tactics. third-party - Something made for a console by a company other than the console manufacturer REVIEWS Mt GAME OF THE MONTH "v. ETRIOD FUSION There is'little doubt that GameCube's Metroid Prime is one fantastic game, but we were more than a ‘ little surprised at how much punch Metroid Fusion packed on the Game Boy Advance. Armed with all the graphics, gameplay, and exploration that any Metroid fan could want, Fusion proves to be the ultimate accessory to the gamer on the go, if not the best Metroid game ever created. Meet your destiny on page 120 П Hy GAMEINFORMER 87 P SHANG m . REV “I'll even go out on a limb and say that Deadly Alliance is the best 3D fighter to date!” ешь ET Each player has only a few special moves so that combat remains fast and close Test Your Might makes a wonderful return, and Test Your Sight is a new minigame as well There are many secrets. ‘Some are useful, and others are just cool entertainment 88 GAME INFORMER —nAn-cHUAN-TAZ-KWON-D0— PLAYSTATION 2 MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE FATALITIES, GRAPHICS, AND GAMEPLAY...OH MY! y brain feels like mush, | can't concentrate, the M joints in my fingers hurt, my eyes are strained; and it's all because I've been playing Deadly Alliance for two weeks straight. Yet, despite my physical ailments, | still want to bust up more virtual mortal kombatants. Why? Because MKDA is that damn good. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Deadly Alliance is the best 3D fighter to date! MKDA’s got it all: an open-ended combat system, tons of combos, cool character designs, gruesome Fatalities, a solid single-player mode, myriad secrets (over 600, which we've unlocked for you), interesting stages, killer graphics, compelling sounds and music, and kickyour-ass-over-and-over- again Al. Even so, MK's crowning achievement is its strategic and well-balanced gameplay. Instead of overwhelming players with an obscene number of moves (as in Tekken and Virtua Fighter), players only have access to a few special attacks, and about a dozen different standard moves. This constrained approach eliminates superfluous attacks, and allows players to focus on the strategic element of the combat (like many 2D fighters). So, you won't discover 10 subtly different ways to hit low; rather, MKDA might offer four or five, which is enough to keep your enemies guessing. This might seem indicative of slow, combo-ess battles. However, frantic melee fighting almost always ensues, since most moves and small combos deal minor amounts of damage, and the de-emphasis of special attacks makes distant fighting impractical. The combo system is elaborate, yet easy to understand. Every character supports three fighting styles – two standard martial arts, and a weapon form. By linking smaller combos from each style together, players can create heavy-hitting offensives. This approach not only heightens the variety and strategic components, it prevents combat from relying too heavily on button-mashing. Therefore, your non-gaming buddies won't be able to make triumphant claims of skill by pulling an Eddie Gordo. The developers even managed to create a fully realized cast. Each character supports a unique design, and offers an exclusive arsenal, which means that every combatant is useful in his or her own way. Also, because Midway thoroughly balanced out the characters, nobody is too strong or too weak. The only thing 1 can really fault MKDA for is its single-player mode. While the numerous secrets will certainly keep you hooked, the standard human versus computer scenario needs more depth. Something like Alpha 3's World Tour mode or VF4’s Kumite should be standard. Ideally, | would love to see а fighter of this caliber support more adventuring, as in Way of the Samurai. If Midway can implement a better one-player experience for the sequel, we'll have perfection. If it can manage to include online, that would be utter bliss. — CHET W STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER MIDWAY Ш DEVELOPER MIDWAY E RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 The detail in the characters is stunning, even rivalin; m Concept: It's MK in 3D again, but refined to the point of being one of the best (if not the best) in the genre m Graphics: The best in this category on PS2. Only DOA 3 on Xbox beats it out п Sound: All of the sounds are sweet and the music is appropriate п Playability: The control is fantastic. | have zero complaints in this department п Entertainment: This is the most fun I've had with a fighter since Street Fighter Alpha 3. It's highly addictive and offers an amazing combat system, plus more secrets than any other fighter п Replay Value: High | SECOND OPINION | | Mortal Kombat is back with a | vengeance, breathing new life into the fighting genre, and | eclipsing everything that has | been attempted before it. | Clinging tightly to the blood and | gore that put this series on the alas sete ыас , you won't be able to button-flail your | | way to victory. Deadly Alliance is | | all about progressive skill and | the ability to manufacture че оны ерй ced | Even though Vice City will win | all of the awards, I truly feel that | Deadly Aliance is the most | surprising, accomplished, and | addictive game of the year. _ REINER - 9 5 | “At long last, there's finally something in the Star Wars universe that's worse than Jar Jar." E. Jango uses his flamethrower to cut through a grate ILM's CG sequences are wickedly cool = 20 Capture thugs to collect a bounty at the end of the level FLAMETHROWEF PLAYSTATION 2 STAR WARS: YOU FOUL- MOUTHED NERFHERDER!! T obsession. The way | see it, though, being a Star Wars fan is an exercise in pain. Not only are we forced into camping overnight to secure tickets to the first showing of the upcoming film, but we have to deal with Hindenberg-sized disasters like this game. At long last, there's finally something in the Star Wars universe that's worse than Jar Jar. Ever since The Empire Strikes Back, l've wanted nothing more than to assume the identity of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter, Boba Fett. LucasArts has finally created a game that allows just this. Actually, it's Boba's father Jango, but when it comes down to it, he's basically the same character. LucasArts definitely had the right idea for a Fettinspired game. Jango proves to be just as ruthless as | hoped, and his arsenal is brimming with possibilities. He uses his flamethrower to cut through metal dividers; soars through the air with his patented jetpack; collects bounties by binding thugs with his whipcord; launches missiles from his back; and flips through the air while locked onto targets. As giddy as | was going into this review, and as cool as the gameplay dynamics sound, by the time | was done playing, my entire world had come crashing down, and one of my fondest childhood memories was tainted forever. As grand a vision as this game paints, its onscreen reality is the exact opposite. With an archaic graphics engine, dreadfully awful & ome people call it foolish. Others label it as a dork camera tracking, extensive load times, and some of the most atrocious mission challenges known to man, it becomes quite clear where this game went wrong. Rather than focusing just on the action, LucasArts made an effort to incorporate extensive platforming segments as well. As one might gather, it's not entertaining to leap from rooftop to rooftop, nor is it amusing to shimmy across pipes. The only qualities that are remotely impressive actually have nothing to do with the gameplay package. Industrial Light and Magic created a handful of stunning out-of game CG story sequences that perfectly accommodate an interesting tale showing us once and for all why Count Dooku chose Jango as the primary cloning gene. On top of this, LucasArts enlisted the voice-talents of Episode Il's stars Temuera Morrison and Leeanna Walsman to reprise their respective roles as Jango Fett and Zam Wesell, respectively. As disappointing as this game is, | did learn a valuable lesson: George Lucas killed the Fetts for a reason. They certainly look cool, but give them the chance, and they'll stab you in the back. | do recommend that Star Wars junkies work their way through the miserable gameplay to see the new story material and detail that went into them, but everyone else should look elsewhere for their Star Wars thrills. – REINER W STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER LUCASARTS IN DEVELOPER UCASARTS Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 20 "ө & The character movement is extremely sensitive and a real bear to control successfully THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN! m Concept: Jango Fett's bogus journey m Graphics: The uninspired environment designs and floaty character animations look quite awkward stacked up against the finely sculpted outof- game cinematics by ILM m Sound: A handful of tracks from John Williams’ Episode II score, new compositions by Jeremy Soule, and voice work by Temuera Morrison and Leeanna Walsman п Playability: Slippery controls, ridiculous missions, and atrocious combat п Entertainment: Cool in that "It's Star Wars" kind of way, but ultimately low on thrills п Replay Value: Low SECOND OPI | The one thing | wanted from this | game was to keep Jango Fett cool. After all, acting tough with a bucket on your head takes | some brass balls. Through murky | game design and controls, however, LucasArts has blown his mystique. Frankly, he's become a bore. While the levels were | inventive in their layout, it simply | wasn't fun going through them. I | also think this game should have | been a first-person shooter. My natural inclination was to control Jango this way, and it would have solved having to constantly babysit the bad camera. Heap on | top of this a poor targeting system and uninspired combat, and Jango's merely a guy running around with a kick-ass utility belt and a phallus jutting out of his | back. That's just not cool. | Bounty Hunter is not as bad as | Boba dying in the Sarlacc pit, | but this game will be slowly | digested in the bargain bins for a | thousand years. KATO - 6.5 GAMEINFORMER 89 . PLAYSTATION 2 _ IDYNASTY WARRIORS 3: XTREME LEGENDS A DYNASTY OF GAMES — OVERKILL? T his series has become Koei’s most profitable franchise, so it's no surprise to see it trying to capitalize on this grandiose brawler. Make no mistake, though; this isn't new as much as it is an expansion pack through and through. Therefore, the differences between Xtreme Legends and Dynasty Warriors 3 are minimal. Players can adventure through the stories of a few other characters; customize each of their bodyguards; complete some new challenges; gain access to a fifth weapon; and have the ability to use features from this version in DW 3. Overall, these additions will certainly appeal to serious fans of the series, especially since XL comes priced at only 30 bucks. However, if you've never been partial to these games or brawlers in general, there’s absolutely no reason to bother with a purchase. Fans will be saddened to discover that not only have the problems with the previous installment gone overlooked, but XL comes with a new one. For whatever reason, the graphical quality has decreased - usually the exact opposite of what you want to accomplish in an upgrade. – CHET 5i THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN m Concept: It's the same brawler as Dynasty Warriors 3 with a few new features and story elements W Graphics: They actually look worse — Curious W Sound: The yells and screams of hordes of enemies and allies still get you into the action ш Playability: The control is okay, but the camera presents a few problems W Entertainment: It's a button masher that gets old after a little while, but if you love these games, then this is another way to Squeeze out more entertainment for $30 @ Replay Value: Moderate | SECOND OPINION ‘smattering of new stuff, but until significant changes are made to this series (like fixing the camera and expanding the combat), I'm afraid it's passed | its expiration date. Oddly, 1 swear the game looks worse than the original DW 3. The price | | is the only thing that keeps this from being a fulton shakedown. KATO - RIO COUNT, Wi STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER КОЕ! EN DEVELOPER КОЕ Ш RELEASE JANUARY 15 €90 GAMEINFORMER LIVE OR LET DIE? he likeness of Pierce Brosnan validates the experience more than any other Bond Te before it, and the cinematic story sequences glisten with Hollywood qualities. Outside of these dynamic visuals, if you were to take the time to break down every little difference between NightFire and the precursor in the series, Agent Under Fire, you'd come to the startling conclusion that very little has changed between the two games. If you’re a fan of the series, this is fantastic news. However, if you didn’t enjoy the first installment in the series, you'll walk away disappointed again. As was the case before, Bond's high-tech adventure unfolds within first-person, driving, and track-shooting styles. All three of these are very dynamic and look absolutely fantastic, but since the levels are quite short, the variety hits you too fast, which in turn makes the quest feel somewhat disjointed. While you'd like to spend more time within one particular level or gameplay style, dividing the action into different sequences keeps it fresh. The problem is, if you know how to use a controller, you're going to whip through this game and run headlong into the ending credits within a matter of hours. The difficulty level never escelates to a fevered pitch, and the stages are short, simple in design, and entirely too linear. In this regard, NightFire feels more like a movie than a game. That is, unless your sole interest is the multiplayer component. With a host of game modes ranging from Team King of the Hill to Assassination, and a wide assortment of modification options like number of bots, mini-vehicles, weapon assortments, and friendly fire, NightFire’s true calling comes within the two to four- player skirmishes. The adventure Bond embarks on certainly is amusing, especially since you'll make out with at least five different hotties within the span of an hour, but since it is short, it’s only a sound investment if you intend to use it for multiplayer. - REINER "Let's see here... I'll have the blond on Wednesday, the redhead on Thursday, and the brunette for brunch on Friday." erg рде AU MNA In one sequence, you'll find yourself in a hair-raising track-shooting stage set on the back of a snowmobile Roger Moore isn't the only one who can drive cars underwater W STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/RACING Iii PUBLISHER EA GAMES/MGM INTERACTIVE E DEVELOPER EUROCOM/EA GAMES Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 14 m Concept: A cookie-cutter first-person shooter with amusing driving and track-shooting levels thrown in for good measure W Graphics: Highly detailed character models, impressive explosions, and motion- picture quality CG cutscenes W Sound: Bond to a tee. It even has a sultry NightFire theme song m Playability: The missions are as diverse as can be and the controls are easy to manhandle п Entertainment: A wild ride, but the missions are fairly short and the game can be completed within hours п Replay Value: Moderate SECOND OPINION This game is very deceiving. Upon first look, most will be | impressed with NightFire’s graphics and overall polish in a | number of areas. However, once ou get the chance to sink your | teeth into it, you'll soon | discover that most of the work | went into the presentation while the гате design took a | backseat. The missions are | generally extremely short, and | with only about a dozen, you'll | complete the entire adventure in four or five hours. This problem is further compounded by each level's simple linear | approach. Perhaps the only | redeeming element to the | entire experience is the | multiplayer component; but | even that pales in comparison | to TimeSplitters’. If you're a | seasoned gamer or specialize іп | | FPSs, you don't need to bother | with NightFire. This will appeal | only to the casual gamer who | happens to enjoy Bond flicks. CHET - 6.75 | I f | boi es oe RUN...JUMP.. EVOLVE y score doesn't necessarily reflect the statement that I'm about to make, but | M can honestly say that Haven is one of the most enjoyable platformers on PlayStation 2. The secret to its success is variety. From the opening cinematic to the ending credits, the gameplay is in a continual state of metamorphosis. Whether the game's progression offers subtle changes to the basic play mechanics, the introduction of new puzzles, or sequences that adopt the identity of different genres, there’s always something new to experience. Other platformers have tried to broaden their horizons with the incorporation of diversified gameplay, but none even come close to touching the vicissitude of Haven. | kid you not when | say that by the end of the game you'll have experienced almost everything video games have to offer. You'll compete in boat races, hang glide through a storm, don a water cannon for firefighting, mount a turret on a train, bombard ground targets in a biplane, rocket into space in a ship, speed across sand dunes in a buggy...the list goes on and on. If a particular scenario is repeated, there's usually a unique twist thrown in to make the experience unquestionably different. The variegated gameplay styles are definitely the main attraction of this game. Considering how much material is actually included, the graphics are quite good. The problem that Haven runs into is its execution of the basics. The platforming segments simply lack polish. The collision fields are suspect at times, the camera doesn't show the best angles, the yoyo attacks are hard to control, and targeting is incredibly sloppy. That's not to say that the platforming is a complete loss, however. With an intense difficulty level and the same amount of diversity distributed between the puzzles and jumping exercises, it's hardly a bore. It still plays well, but is a much lower grade than the Sly Coopers and Ratchet & Clanks in the world. Even with a few drawbacks, Haven truly is a trend-setting effort and an absolute must- have for platforming fanatics. – REINER The variety of gameplay taps into every genre, including a track-shooting stage against a fl 5 an is a three-lap buggy race... hang gliding through rings W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM lii PUBLISHER MIDWAY lii DEVELOPER TRAVELLER'S TALES I RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 эуе. sa шш т» MEET —G vam» X THE BOTTOM LINE m Concept: An entertaining platformer that breaks free from the traditional mode and tries something a little different m Graphics: Crisp and clean. The engine is also capable of displaying over 1,000 characters onscreen at once for flocking effects E Sound: Very typical for a platformer W Playability: The integral platforming segments are decent, but dwarfed by the immense number and quality of other play styles п Entertainment: Keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what will come next п Replay Value: Moderately High ' | This fall is probably one of the | best seasons for character | action games I’ve ever seen. | Things will get even better when | Haven, one of this year's biggest | surprises, hits the shelves. | Although not as polished in | terms of control and camera | work as some of the giants in | the genre, Haven is a deep and satisfying platforming experience. It melds traditional | running and jumping with a wide | variety of action sequences that | [е кирак patne к апше | buggy demolition derby, manning | | the cannon on a monorail, and | even using a jetpack to save a | buming village. Better yet, the | hectic action starts immediately, | | and you don't have to endure any pointless tutorial levels. The only [с еы | character is pretty generic | (except for sporting a ludicrous | set of Iverson cornrows), and | your primary weapon (a yoyo) PLAYSTATION 2 DEAD TO RIGHTS MAKING THINGS RIGHT ead to Rights on Xbox, while an extremely high-quality title, was not without flaws. In bringing it to other platforms, Namco did right by the game, as this port solves many of the problems in an otherwise excellent offering. Sometimes it pays to wait. DTR is loaded with great missions and excellent moves. Its pacing on Xbox, however, made you do а lot of menial things to get to the good stuff. This isn't the case here. Instead of wallowing endlessly in prison, you're out much faster. Battles that would've otherwise taken several tries to conquer are easier. Yes, it's sort of weak to cut down the difficulty, but it increases the chances of gamers seeing more of the соо! levels — rather than getting frustrated and quitting. This is possibly the most versatile gunslinger in video games. Targeting enemies is a breeze, and there are a plethora of weapons to use. Diving, using flashy disarms, hugging walls, and taking human shields are all options, too. Hand-to-hand combat comes into play often, and is a nice break from bullets. Props for the minigames, which value timing over button mashing. | put Dead to Rights at the top of the list of gun-based games. Even though I'm giving itthe same score as on Xbox, this version is noticeably more userfriendly. Become that user, and buy it. — JUSTIN THE BOTTOM LINE MATURE esas B= Concept: A tale about a boy and his dog, and the criminal conspiracy to kill them m Graphics: Slightly degraded from the Xbox version и Sound: The voiceovers amusingly poke fun at celebs. I'm indifferent in regards to the music m Playability: Re-mapped buttons slightly enhance the already smooth controls. It just takes awhile to memorize all the functions m Entertainment: Great story, action, and extras make DTR the cream of the PS2 crop W Replay Value: Moderately High | SECOND OPINION Since ! played Max Payne on PC, Dead to Rights is basically | а poor man's version of what 1 | consider to be a superior game. However, Max Payne on PS2 was a lackluster port and lacked the mouse control that made it such fun. Dead to Rights scores in my book as the better game on PlayStation | 2, since its interface is much more controller-friendly. The disarms are definitely worth seeing and the gun combat is fast and furious. 1 could do | without the hand-to-hand | portions of the game, but overall it’s good stuff. Ш STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER NAMCO W DEVELOPER NAMCO Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 GAMEINFORMER 91 Midget NOT THE END OF THE WORLD irst off, let me get you perverts out of the way. ‘Sony made Acclaim take ‘the female frontal nudity out of BMX XXX, so if you're buying this for the boobies, look elsewhere. That's not to say that this is for kids; there's enough swearing going on here to make Eminem wash Z-Axis’ mouth out with soap. Is it dumb South Park potty humor, and nothing that would raise an eyebrow on HBO. Basically, if you're old enough to buy the game, you're too old to be shocked by it. BMX XXX is really the _ descendent of this year's excellent Aggressive Inline, and features the enormous levels and scripted events that made that game so noteworthy. Unfortunately, it doesn't come close to matching Aggressive Inline's level of quality. For one, too many of the missions are annoying scavenger hunts. Two, with no cutscenes to give you hints, it's difficult to tell just what to do for many of the missions. This is made more annoying by the fact that the riders who give you tasks aren't always at their posts, forcing you to wait for them to return before you can give it another try. Lastly, it's clear that the “adult content" is the focus of BMX XXX, as Z-Axis has not made the significant gameplay refinements (like being able to swap tricks in and out) that have made Neversoft's Tony Hawk games а premier franchise. — MATT е, but it's just clever- THE BOTTOM LINE ]MATURE | | m Concept: Popular BMX franchise ditches Dave Mirra, embraces naughty humor, foul language, and sexually suggestive themes W Graphics: Nice looking, but there are some serious collision problems and characters tend to get stuck in platforms и Sound: Most of the dialogue is funny. in a fifth-grade Not Just Another Teen Movie kind of way, but the music is pretty mediocre m Playability: Modifier button, flatland tricks: Nice. Not being able to edit your trick list, no special meter or moves: Weak и Entertainment: If you like these kinds of games, it's worth your time, but be prepared to deal with some annoyance E Replay Value: Moderately High SECOND OPINION | | While 1 do miss nipples (taken | out of this version), what 1 miss | more is smooth, tight | gameplay. ВМХ XXX lags far | behind both Tony 4 and | Aggressive Inline. If you've | ‘seen all there is to see in those two, though, this is worth a | look. It's entertaining, despite | the numerous flaws. 1 suggest | picking up the betterJooking, topless Xbox version. JUSTIN - 7. 75 И RELEASE NOVEMBER 13 .92 GAMEINFORMER Я Cris their Clown car- [ PLAYSTATION 2 ] ATV OFFROARD FURY 2 FOUR-WHEEL BLISS uch like the first incarnation in the series, Rainbow Studios has forged an M extravagant gameplay package with realistic physics models for the quad bikes, surprisingly intelligent CPU opponents, and track designs that are as treacherous as they are creative. You'll actually have to shift your driver's weight to pre- load the suspension for jumps, counterbalance around hairpin turns to avoid flipping, and limit the air you catch to avoid nasty crotch-mutilating bails. You really couldn't ask for much more in terms of control or authenticity. Rainbow always strives for realism in its games, and this is the closest it's come to authenticating vehicular physics. You'll even encounter enhanced friction zones for variant surfaces like mud and sand. On the other hand, Rainbow's games have never showcased longevity. Outside of the dynamic gameplay, the first АТУ came up short in дате modes and reasons as to why people should spend more than a day with the game. Knowing full well that gamers wanted a much deeper experience, Rainbow decided to blow the doors off of how deep a racing game could be. With 40 environments divided between five event types, a slew of modes, and the ability to earn cash to shop for new ATVs, outfits, and minigames, you get more than enough bang for your buck. But it actually gets better. The single player experience pales in comparison to the multiplayer component. Along with the standard split- fumo "m screen play, this game supports LAN, i-Link, and online multiplayer for both broadband and dial-up connections. The gameplay truly is a work of art, and now that it has depth on its side, ATV is nothing short of a force to be reckoned with. If there's even a smidgen of racing in your blood, run out and buy this game. It's one of the best gaming investments you'll . make. – REINER [54 4 [zd ct Since the entire game is physics-based, you'll need to shift your weight for jumps, landings, and turns By earning cash, you'll be able to unlock new gear. vehicles, and minigames like hoc! splits STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER RACING Ш PUBLISHER SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA E DEVELOPER RAINBOW STUDIOS W RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 ...and the wildly popular King of the Hill for reen or online multiplayer THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE m Concept: The same great physics-based gameplay with newfound depth and online play W Graphics: The rider and ATV models glisten with authenticity, but the effects and environments are fairly generic E Sound: А rockin’ soundtrack with Korn, Filter, Garbage, Cypress Hill, and Jurassic 5 @ Playability: Dynamic controls, realistic physics, big time crashes, amazing CPU Al, and tricks galore п Entertainment: A finely crafted racing experience that will keep you occupied for months on end W Replay Value: High SECOND OPINION | | Fora sequel that delivers | | everything you could want and a | little bit more, | was surprised to | find myself less than engaged by | ATV Offroad Fury 2. Don't get me | | wrong, the preload jumping and | online components are right on | in execution and design, butthe | | racing is missing the spark that [Ере Кә) peat Коко | race in the singleplayer mode, 1 | always felt like the last series of | | Jumps and how well | approached | them made the difference | between victory and defeat – not | how well 1 had raced up until | that point. That said, as one of [one PS, Fuy 2 deles | | online for PS2, Fury 2 delivers a | rush when going head to head | against human opponents. Sure, | there are some cheap components to the racing in multiplayer, but your knowledge | of the track and how to hit all | | the jumps are the keys to | | victory. This is the best ATV racer | | yet, but the single-player | | component still isn't on par with | the rest of the racing world. — | THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP THE RACF IS сооп WEATHER Pu # ks E WHITEDUT. ТАРИДЕЕ; Experience the thrills, spills and sub-arctic chills of authentic snowmobile action. Careen along snow-packed trails in blinding blizzards. Bust big, frosty air with over 30 different tricks. And pray for endless winter storm fronts. It's Whiteout. And it's got racing down cold. Strong Lyrics CONTENT RATED BY KONAMI e ESRB Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft. ЖД in the United States and/or other countries. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. KONAMI? is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. © 2002 KONAMI CORPORATION. All rights reserved. REVIEWS HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HERE'S THE SECRET: IT'S BORING et me preface my L remarks by saying this: If you're shopping for a certified J.K. Rowling fanatic this holiday season, this game should do well enough to fill their Potter-centric gaming needs. If you're young, and in love with a fictional wizard from England, you'll probably eat this up like a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean! Woo-hoo! Hey, how's that for a pull quote? Moving on, let's discuss whether or not Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is worth the recycled plastic disc it’s burned into. In a word, no. While it's marginally inter- esting to collect and assign new spells to your HUD, that's about the only thing that even came close to jarring me from the lazy daze | fell into playing Harry Potter. It’s sort of odd that the developers again opted for the Zelda/Star Fox “no jump" control scheme, because de-emphasizing the action element means you have to have some pretty unique puzzles and levels to keep our attention — which this game definitely doesn't. Also, a few elements of the film/book that would have made killer sequences (especially taking the flying car to Hogwarts) were relegated to cutscene detail. Lame. - MATT THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE | ELI m Concept: The weakest book in the Harry Potter series gets the video game treatment m Graphics: There is really no excuse for a framerate this slow, especially when the game. isn't exactly pushing the envelope in other areas W Sound: | wanted to strangle Harry every time he cried, “Flipendo!” ш Playability: Erratic, clumsy, and no fun W Entertainment: It's fun to check out all the Potter marginalia contained in the levels, but it’s just too damn dull to recommend W Replay Value: Low SECOND OPINION | The Chamber of Secrets is crammed to capacity with meticulously detailed Hogwartian | authenticity and seamlessly | integrated story sequences, yet | the variegated gameplay seg- ments tend to be quite tedious | or executed poorly. A no-brainer for Potter fans, but it'll hold little interest for anyone else. REINER - 6.5| W STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM Ш PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS IM DEVELOPER ELECTRONIC ARTS W RELEASE NOVEMBER 16 94 GAMEINFORMER TREASURE PLANET WINDSURFING AND COINS hile the new Disney movie still looks hitand-miss to me, the PlayStation 2 version W of Treasure Planet is an ambitious stab at breaking the “games based on movies all suck” stereotype. In some ways, Bizarre was quite successful. Taking advantage of its cartoon tie-in, each level is intercut with scenes from the movie, the voice work is all done by the famous actor types that star in the feature, and the graphics walk a fine line between cartoony and being strikingly realistic. The gameplay tries to capture that madcap feel of cruising on a windsurfer over a crescent- shaped city, while at the same time urging traditional platforming values. Each mode is unfortunately marred in some way. The windsurfing levels contain too much exploration, and not enough racing. The platforming levels, on the other hand, are imaginatively designed but require the ubiquitous and mundane task of cruising around and finding coins. This is not to say, though, that the graphics, controls, and sound don't more than make up for its lack of mission creativity. To progress through levels, one needs to complete a certain number (which is not all) of the tasks listed. In theory, you can skip most of the more monoto- nous missions, and concentrate on the few originals in each level. Treasure Planet is a great starter platform game: the missions are short, you advance quickly, and the design quality is what you'd expect from any Disney feature. - LISA A whole new Pirates of the Caribbean ^ , " Sections like this will ease the kiddies into FPSs That big, green ring looks innocent enough W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM Ш PUBLISHER SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT E DEVELOPER BIZARRE CREATIONS Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 13 THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE. m Concept: Live the cartoon epic by exploring brave new worlds populated with Disney's minions m Graphics: In-game models don't Seem out of place with the cutscenes - a good balance m Sound: Famous people who are routinely paid to act supplied voices, and it is gratefully appreciated ш Playability: Split into two distinct realms: platform exploring and racing on a windsurfer with rockets. | wish they hadn't tried to merge the two in some levels п Entertainment: Like a Disney movie without the song and dance W Replay Value: Moderately High SECOND OPINION | It was only a matter of time: | Treasure Planet is the first Jak and Daxter clone. The main characters look, move, and | even gather power-ups just | like Naughty Dog's platforming | heroes. I'm not complaining, | though; it's a good one. Maybe | clone isn't the right term, as | the space windsurfing sectlons | are unique, if not entirely suc- | cessful. If anything, I wished the | | developers had eschewed these | | sections altogether and focused | | more on crafting the platforming | levels. While Nintendo, Naughty | Dog, Rare, and Insomniac rule | the roost in the world of char- acteraction games, companies | | like Treasure Planet developer | | Bizarre Creations, Sucker Punch | | (Sly Coooper), and Traveller's | Tales (Haven) are quickly clos- | ing the quality gap. I just hope The fates of three opposing heroes Ж RD ы. destiny ofthe entire d. Uncover the 108 Stars of Destiny, create a homeland castle town, discover the secrets of the 27 True Runes, and save the world from destruction. Mild Violence Suggestive Themes PEE PlayStation.2 в SUIKODENG is a registered trademark of KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TOKYO, inc. ©1995, 2002 KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TOKYO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. REVIEWS NCAA FINAL FOUR E STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS E PUBLISHER 989 SPORTS E RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 PLAYSTATION 2 QUICKIES This game is so bad, | actually had to bump up my other NCAA game scores to make sure Final Four's was that much lower. | SUB REBELLION W STYLE |-PLAYER SHOOTER E PUBLISHER METRO 3D E RELEASE OCTOBER 11 This game's catch — controlling а submarine — also its downfall. Sub Rebellion moves slower than Jacque Ill Cousteau on the |9 toilet. For a 3 ОЙ shooter, this is a negative. Regardless, 1 did enjoy having to manage my targets above and below the water's surface, including everything from depth charges to helicopters. Also notable are the treasure items you can pick up and the radar system used to sniff them out. Sub Rebellion is in many ways a very basic game (one featuring obscure controls that take a while to get used to), but it just manages to carve out a niche for itself. – KATO t considered making this the first game to ever receive a negative score, but the player models lifted it above a zero. It would take more paper than the Sequoia National Forest could produce to list everything wrong that happens in a single half of Final Four. The only thing that could make this worse would be if the game was broken, but then you'd at least [811.25 be spared the agony of playing it. – JUSTIN DROME RACERS W STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER RACING W PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS/LEGO INTERACTIVE W RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 Zoomin | Оч Focus right analog stich, or JAMES CAMERON’ S DARK ANGEL DARK INDEED f admit to never having Another promising game struck down by execution. Drome Racers, which is based on those kind of advanced, expensive Lego kits that require you to hold a B.A. in mechanical engineering. The offroad and city racing modes work well but the drag racing is not fun in the least. Also, the game isn't really that challenging; you either coast to victory or get screwed by a lucky enemy's power-up attack. ч Although there is a car-building mode you can unlock, | wish "w^ Kamehameha that the focus had been more on experimenting with the ЕЗ various Lego sets and parts at the outset Ez с af Career ModE: MATT DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI NCAA MARCH MADNESS 2003 ЧЕМ MEE RCCL E PUBLISHER INFOGRAMES W STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS W RELEASE DECEMBER 4 BPUBUSHERGECIRCNIE ARS Infogrames scores another win with the Dragon Ball W RELEASE NOVEMBER 21 A А crowd, but to the exclusion of mainstream success. Fans 7g March Madness 2003 isn't of the show will drool over the voices, music, and perfect, but it’s easily the perfectly replicated look of the animated series. On the best option for college hoops | gameplay side, Budokai's basic fighting moves are saved | fans. It's got fastpaced only by the immense customization of skills and the gameplay and excellent unlockables available. Getting seriously involved in the analog stick control. The building of your characters, however, requires wading atmosphere of the collegiate | through average combat that you may tire of before too game is really captured here. long. Get this only if you're already down It's too easy to score and the ball collision is lacking, but with chillin’ with Krillin. — KATO those were the same flaws in NBA Live 2003, too. March Madness is the basketball series that Es V-RALLY 3 graduates with honors this year. – JUSTIN STYLE | TO A4PLAYER RACING E PUBLISHER INFOGRAMES NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL 2K3 W RELEASE OCTOBER 23 B STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS = ИШ Is Colin the best? | E PUBLISHER SEGA ا‎ = may have spoken M RELEASE DECEMBER 10 3 ©“ prematurely. This game is essentially THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN watched the Dark Angel television series, but after playing this game, I'm not surprised it tanked after two seasons. Trying to duplicate Buffy's “hot back- talking chick with fancy moves" formula is a little harder than it may seem — as is making a decent video game. Dark Angel fails at both. This is a brawler. It allegedly has stealth, too, but it's the most pathetic, poorly done sneaking around I've seen. So, we'll just ignore that claim entirely. Basically, you get Spotted by an enemy, engage an entire platoon, find the keycard or other item needed to advance, then repeat. And repeat. Dark Angel's combat itself 4 isn't so putrid. Each face ш button on the controller is W Replay Value: used. Grappling is the best Low offense, but plenty of kicks and punches exist as well. Combos abound. Jumps and first-person shooting of the “stealth gun” are both too buggy to be of use, and и Concept: Hot girl, sweet combat moves, but a lame game и Graphics: Wow! This is the best looking PS-X game I've ever...Huh? It's PS2?! Oh W Sound: Club beats and canned one-liners. This will do W Playability: The fighting itself is well done, as there are plenty of ways to kick ass. However, the stealth and other gameplay features are a joke E Entertainment: The only fun here comes from the battles, which get repetitive after the SECOND OPINION | | Fans of the cancelled show won't find solace in this game. the camera is a chore to deal with. Cameos by characters from the series and a decent Jessica Alba model aren't enough to hook even hardcore fans of the show. – JUSTIN Your path through levels is short but not sweet. You can kick dumpsters, but can't jump up on | | a box to explore areas. The stealth portions are plagued by a bad camera and poor enemy Al. Fighting sequences, however, | do let Max show off some good | moves. This game will peter out | faster than the TV show itself. KATO - 6 | W STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION I PUBLISHER SIERRA E DEVELOPER RADICAL ENTERTAINMENT W RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 96 GAME INFORMER game, but has few of its strengths. The Al is horrendous, all the great tweaks in NBA 2K3 are MIA, and most of the This is perhaps the crummiest hoops game from Sega that I've ever played – and I've played ет all. It's as if you're 9 playing NBA 2K3 through some bizarre vortex, as it sort of resembles that fun is gone, too. | do like the random name generator, which isn't in the other collegiate titles. People in dorms are going to have to get pretty drunk to get any enjoyment out of thi JUSTIN its equal, and even cil bests it in one key department – the career mode. You'll Switch teams from year to year and rise to the challenge of bringing your carmaker to the top. As far as your ride's handling, however, | prefer Colin. V- Rally is a little squirrelly, even if you tweak the steering response. Otherwise, | cannot commend developer Eden Studios enough for everything from top-notch presentation to delivering a white-knuckle rally ride that'll have fans enthralled. - KATO HE Р OULD. | N хох "I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN." (€ \ N 1 wi. -ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY eor" "ONE OF GAMING [MOST SENSUAL BABES..." а. б, peni E -PLAY di a g -A FAST AND FURIOUS ACTION/ | ADVENTURE THAT OOZES STYLE.” à a ү s we? -GAMEPRO p T prc BLOODRAYNE.COM : PlayStation.e IN STORES NOW MATURE M Blood and Gore 7. Strong Language TERMINAL REALITY www.majescogames.com Screenshots taken from Xbox version of the game. ©2002 Terminal Reality. Developed by Terminal Reality. Licensed to and published by Majesco Sales, Inc. ©2002 Majesco Sales. Inc. All Rights Reserved. ‘PlayStation’ and the "PS" Family logo are registered tradémarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2001 Nintendo. Microsoft. Xbox and the Xbox logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association "From utter blasphemy to unadulterated praise, my time with Metroid Prime stimulat- ed a whirlwind of emotions.” ze The controls are unorthodox, but. still manageable Realtime cutscenes accompany most of the boss battles The effects that grace the screen are absolutely incredible 98 GAMEINFORMER METROID PRIME PRIME TIME FOR NINTENDO with Metroid Prime stimulated a whirlwind of emotions. As a lifelong aficionado of the series, | had doubts as to how Retro Studios would successfully incorporate Metroid's high-flying, two-dimensional gameplay into the framework of a first-person shooter. It didn't seem like a viable genre for a game of this caliber, but to a certain extent, Retro Studios proved me wrong. The only aspect of the Metroid universe that isn't expressed to its fullest capacity is Samus’ leaping prowess. In such, you won't find yourself spinning frantically as you bound from wall to wall. You can leap across platforms and will eventually unearth a doublejump upgrade, but as a whole, these movements seem more appropriate for a space-age wheelchair with jump jets than the powered armor that we know and love. Samus' acrobatic abilities may have mysteriously vanished, but 1 can confirm that everything else you've come to expect from a Metroid game is represented in some fashion. Retro didn't just include these elements to appease the fan boys. The development team did a phenomenal job recreating the atmosphere and general vibe of the series. Unlike most shooters, this adventure unfolds naturally and isn't broken up into stages or acts. The entire world is available to gamers from the outset, and the story progresses as players unearth new routes and items. Exploration has always been one of Metroid's strong points, | utter blasphemy to unadulterated praise, my time and Prime absolutely nails this aspect. You'll find yourself searching high and low for secret passages, little holes that you can roll through, pits that you can grapple across, and discolored walls that will crumble upon missile detonation. The amount of investigation involved is staggering, but more impressive yet is how deep it actually is. With a robust assortment of gadgets at your disposal, you'll find yourself constantly flipping between different weapons, visors, and items to reach new areas. When stacked up against other first-person shooters, Metroid Prime stands out like a sore thumb, and not just because it has a heavy focus on exploration. Rather than Sticking with the standard FPS gameplay formula, Metroid Prime's controls are completely unconventional. Movement is designated to just one analog stick, and you'll actually have to hold the Left Trigger to strafe and the Right Trigger to alter your pitch. Why not just put these movements on the C-Stick? Or better yet, allow gamers to customize their own controller settings. It still plays fairly well, and | can see why Retro designed it this way, but everyone plays first-person shooters differently. Control configuration is a must nowadays. Even with a number of control miscues and inconsistencies with the side-scrolling lineage, Metroid Prime is a welcome addition to the series and an experience that avid fans and newcomers alike should add to their gaming repertoire. - REINER Ш STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE Ш PUBLISHER NINTENDO Ш DEVELOPER RETRO STUDIOS Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 х 5 Bi Many of the enemies have specific weak zones. For instance, this beast has а hard shell on its head, so you'll need to lock-on, circle, and blast its back The morph ball has evolved, but the old “bomb and jump” trick still works m Concept: A laudable attempt at transforming Samus" legendary exploits into a high- powered next-generation FPS E Graphics: A visual tour de force that lights up the screen with breathtaking effects, awe- inspiring constructs, and incredible character designs W Sound: Eerie sci-fi melodies with a nostalgic kick @ Playability: Glorious exploration elements, tons of weapon and suit upgrades, and an awkward control schematic W Entertainment: An incredibly lengthy adventure that is as finely polished as it is well paced W Replay Value: Moderately High | SECOND OPINION | | My dislike of the unorthodox FPS | control scheme in Metroid Prime almost made me write this game | off before | finished the opening | scene, but I persevered andit — | paid off. Once Metroid Prime | takes you to the planet surface | and gets back to its exploration | roots, it reminded me why | was. | this series to the GameCube. | Sure, this title would have been | better in 2D (and much less | clumsy if Retro had used the — | standard FPS control style), but | | it really is amazing to see | | Metroid from this perspective. | As a matter of fact, that is the main reason І enjoy Prime. It's | Just absolutely gorgeous to look | | at, and it’s thrilling to see the | | classic Metroid elements fleshed | | out in three dimensions. Just | don't let my frustration withthe | | control keep you from giving | | | Prime a go, as it really is a “Two Towers is a blueprint on how to make a very good movie-based game." ‘Gandalf the Party Wizard throws down some wicked magic A cool moment in the movie; a cool moment in the game A MAGNIFICENT UNION here is much more to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the T Rings trilogy than just swordplay, but Electronic Arts and developer Stormfront Studios have done such a good job with this game that all you'll care about is skinning orc hide. Better yet, because of the balanced and effective use of scenes from the movie, you still get a good flavor for the drama and tension inherent in Tolkien's arching story — even if some important bits from both movies have been left out. Between utilizing the films, the actors' voices, and offering extras, Two Towers is a blueprint on how to make a very good movie-based game. Of course, you can't forget the gameplay. This title is far from a mindless brawler. Its pace is expertly mapped out. You start out enjoying a few combos here and there, and can even let your bow hone in on some eye Sockets. By the time you reach Moria, though, you'll stand defiantly in the door to Balin's Tomb and welcome the hordes of orcs that will pour in on you. As you level up, the combos never become overwhelming. When you reach the Helm's Deep stages and the odds mount, they will fly from your fingers, and are the only way you'll survive and advance. If you really get on a roll, your sword will start to glow, and for a short time, getting Perfect-grade strikes is easier — a | NAN FA THE TWO TOV Mp um € | ERS which earns you more experience points. As you progress, varied objectives will help further spice things up. The first of the three Helm's Deep stages has you running around battling foes and kicking off ladders from the stronghold to stem the tide of orcs. There's no boss battle; your enemy is time. Similarly, you'll sweat it when protecting the citizens of Rohan from wave after wave of attackers. The action was also diversified by some clever camera angles, but there were more than a few times when | would get confused by them or be surprised by off-screen enemies. The problem with all of this frenzied combat, however, is your bow. While | loved integrating arrow strikes while swinging my sword, | really wanted a hard lock-on. Too many times | would either slip off of a target, or wouldn't fire on the obvious enemy. Still, Two Towers is easily a game | could see myself playing through several times over just to get all three characters’ combos and to unlock the secret stages – а pretty strong testament to deliver to an action title. The thing is, EA has created an experience that manages to extend itself beyond that limited video game genre, and one which stands out in a Lord of the Rings universe already filled with failures. - KATO W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS Ш DEVELOPER STORMFRONT STUDIOS lii RELEASE DECEMBER 20 This cave troll will make you cry at first, but later in the game, he's a pushover This frantic do-or-die sequence in Helm's Deep is one of the game's best m Concept: EA has expertly blended gameplay with scenes from the films to create perhaps the best movie licensed video game ever W Graphics: Stormfront had enough confidence in its models that the real-time cutscenes merge into movie shots ш Sound: From the score to the actors' voices, it's all too good to ignore B Playability: A more rock-solid auto targeting system for your bow would have been nice п Entertainment: If this doesn't get you to spring for a replica battle- axe, nothing will W Replay Value: Moderately High | This is a brawler; there can be no doubt about that. Because of this fact, players are going to be | dying a lot. To think someone | | will plow through this game [ without their character going to | that big J.R.R. Tolkien place in | the sky is simply shortsighted. | This fact should spawn a [ юри leche number of | | different save points into the | [Ке pute ere conspicuously | | missing. To be sure, it's alot of | | fun to upgrade your attacks and | perform eye-widening combos, | but once you've sliced through innumerable soldiers, the boss battles can go beyond frustrating | and into the realm of infuriating. | This, and the fact that for some | odd reason you can't jump up a two foot embankment to | dispatch missile enemies is enough to give me pause. The game does look fantastic, | however, and the extras are cool. Having the cast avallable to do voice work adds a lot of depth as | well. Too bad the gameplay | | couldn't match the presentation. | KRISTIAN - 8 | | GAMEINFORMER 99 Jes GAMECUBE) DIE HARD: VENDETTA THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF JOHN MCLAME he basic goal of most T video game developers is to craft a title that is pretty darn good in every conceivable category. Die Hard: Vendetta takes the road less traveled, and is pretty lame in almost every way, shape, and form. This is a new story in the Die Hard universe, and one that shows you why Hollywood writers get paid so much for what they do. At least the banter between McClane and bystanders and colleagues is somewhat entertaining. The gameplay is by-the-numbers FPSing, with auto aiming, double-fisted handguns, and little else. Jumping is required way more than it should be, as it just doesn't work well. Even climbing ladders can be cumbersome. The missions try to flow nicely, but Bits Studios fails here, too. Many times, | would walk into an innocentlooking room, only to have the scene inside cause me to fail my mission, and send me far back into the level. That's just bad. design, folks. Die Hard doesn't even feature multiplayer. Bruce Willis has always played a gruff, rugged character. Vendetta is the same way: ugly and bumbling. It tries to use stealth and bullettime to pretty itself up, but it still ends up far behind the Bonds and Medal of Honors of the world. Leave this one for dead. — JUSTIN THE BOTTOM LINE MATURE W Concept: A faceless John McClane grabs his gun yet again. Maybe he should've just stayed on the couch m Graphics: | didn't see one thing that I thought looked particularly good. At least a lot of it is interactive и Sound: Decent voiceovers, with a Willis-esque lead character, and Carl Winslow from Family Matters. A few fenheimers m Playability: Slightly below average, with shaky targeting and awkward jumping W Entertainment: A lowrent FPS. It's the equivalent of a husky guy in a wifebeater m Replay Value: Moderately Low | SECOND OPINION | The best part about this game is the naughty language. The dialogue can be interesting | from time to time, but the | gameplay is so horrible | ended | up laughing hysterically as 1 watched Sergeant Powell take | a slug in the teeth. Was | that wrong? KRISTIAN - 6 W STYLE 1 -PLAYER ACTION II PUBLISHER SIERRA M DEVELOPER BITS STUDIOS I RELEASE NOVEMBER 20 100 GAME INFORMER MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE UBE-ALITY fter a long hiatus Mortal Kombat has finally returned, and I'm happy to report that A Midway didn't pull any punches with Deadly Alliance. In fact, this is easily the most hard-hitting MK in the series yet. The biggest advancement that Deadly Alliance brings to the genre is the addition of fighting stances. Each of Mortal Kombat's 21 fighters has three fighting styles that they can access with a simple press of the left trigger during combat. This opens an array of strategies, because each one has its own set of combos. Chaining combos and styles is the key to unlocking the most devastating attacks, which challenges the player with a whole new set of tactics. Luckily, learning these new techniques is easy through Deadly Alliance's rather helpful Konquest mode, where you must complete a series of tests for each character. These challenges, in turn, reward the player with “koins” that you can then use to purchase one of Deadly Alliance's 676 secrets (which include art, hidden characters, movies, and a sea of fun stuff). Koins can also be collected by competing in the Arcade mode that challenges the player with a classic series of battles. On Xbox, PlayStation 2, or GameCube, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance looks equally gorgeous. For GameCube fighting gurus there really isn't much choice: You must get this game. It's that good. - ANDY =, PUHE. When asked, Frost always says that her ice is her best asset The models are just simply beautiful. ..well not literally, but you get the point Ke KATANA BUTTERFLY — a = Usine weapons allows yout to deal more damage; Learn the ins and outs of combat in Konquest mode but you can take more damage as well E STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER FIGHTING Ш PUBLISHER MIDWAY Ш DEVELOPER MIDWAY E RELEASE NOVEMBER 29 THE BOTTOM LINE MATURE | m Concept: Restore Mortal Kombat to its former glory by pushing the combat in new directions W Graphics: Some of the animations are a little clunky, but overall the models and environments are fantastic E Sound: The voice-over guy stinks, but the rest of the sound works m Playability: The use of three fighting styles opens up new possibilities that challenge the player with advanced techniques m Entertainment: If you ever liked Mortal Kombat this game has everything you have been waiting for W Replay Value: Moderately High | SECOND OPINION | Being a bit of a Kung Fu Theatre | geek, Mortal Kombat: Deadly — | | Alliance's multiple fighting | styles more than made my day. | Although І don't have the |] | authority to state conclusively, it | | looks like each of the styles is | "authentic." At the bare | minimum, they look freakin" | cool. Exalting a shameless j | extravagance of blood unrivaled | | by even Event Horizon has | always been a hallmark of MK games, but | do believe that | Deadly Alliance takes it to the | next level. Power moves with | your weapons leave the | | opponent stuck like a dead plg, | | spurting blood for the rest of the | match. The only teeny, tiny fault | cracking the surface of MKDA | isn't even its own - the | GameCube's d-pad is tiny, so a | larger third-party peripheral may | be in order. But really, with great | models, creative surroundings, | and more combo moves than | you can shake a stick at, what | more could you ask for? LISA - 9| The texturing and quality of the | JEDI OUTCAST THE NEW REPUBLIC ce oS | as lustrous as the PC and Xbox | "т usually not excited about Star Wars material that isn’t | versions, but outside of these l tied directly to the movies. That being said, 1 have grown | minor graphical issues, the tired of LucasArts' recent by-the-numbers vehicular | PEN is it where ds combat titles. Not only does Jedi Outcast succeed in drawing | are brilliantly depicted, the FPS | me into protagonist Kyle Katarn s world, but it also brings | components are rich in depth first and third-person action together fairly well. | and greatly varied, and the Although you could consider Jedi Outcast a game of two story brings back fond | halves, where you are either with or without Force Powers, | | memories of the classic trilogy. love it all. From the run and gun corridor shoot-outs with REINER - 9.25 stormtroopers to the lightsaber wielding, this is all Star == —— Wars, all the time. This console version (as well as the one on the Xbox), however, is a step down from the PC's, due to the fact that you just can't scroll through the Force Powers fast enough. Another mark against this otherwise fine game is the multiplayer, which encompasses only two players and doesn't go online. Between this and Rogue der, the GameCube now has two of the best Star Wars titles ever made. - KATO E STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE ШЕ PUBLISHER LUCASARTS B DEVELOPER VICARIOUS VISIONS/RAVEN SOFTWARE Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 P 346/948 PHANTASY STAR ONLINE VERSION I & Il FOR DREAMCUBE, OR IS IT GAMECAST? hantasy Star Online fills me with so many conflicting p feelings that it's hard to keep them straigl n the ite one hand, you have a competent RPG that delivers a | PSO is a fine RPG and pretty | great gaming experience and gives console gamers the damn fun, but only if you're | opportunity to venture (for the first time for many) into the aoe vel Т9 гоме | realm of online gaming. On the other hand, you also have a | what's more, since this is GC's | game that is limited on so many levels by the amount of | only online title, you're going ] things it can do (simply because it tries to appease offline | and online gamers at the same time) that the design is light | years behind the PC market. } That said, chatting with friends and venturing off to conquer monsters with companions is a treat. Be warned, however, that the gameplay can be rather repetitive. Plus, since this is the only online game available for GameCube, it's quite an investment. Luckily, Sega included a four-player split-screen version so online play isn't required — which is a definite plus in my book. - ANDY E STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/RPG (ONLINE PLAY AVAILABLE VIA MODEM) E PUBLISHER SEGA Ш DEVELOPER SEGA Ш RELEASE OCTOBER 30 this game. | CHET - 8.25 | to spend quite a bit just for | THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN m Concept: Even as a less-than-perfect port, Outcast is a formidable package m Graphics: Some textures are bad and the cutscenes look like Bantha doo-doo и Sound: John Williams' score from the movies just keeps getting better and better п Playability: The game's use of the third person isn't perfect, but the Force Powers rock п Entertainment: Gripes aside, this is still a musthave Star Wars title if there ever was one п Replay Value: Moderately High m Concept: Continue bringing Phantasy Star Online to as many platforms as possible until people get it m Graphics: Not much different than the original Dreamcast version, but that's not a bad thing E Sound: Not bad, but it drains after awhile E Playability: Communication is a tad clumsy without a keyboard, but the playcontrol is solid п Entertainment: For those unfamiliar with massively multiplayer online RPGs, this is a great place to start п Replay Value: High . GAMECUBE - REVIEWS SPYRO: ENTER THE DRAGONFLY MASCOT ROADKILL hile I'd like to say that this is one of the biggest disappointments of the year, 1 have a feeling that the hysteria surrounding this platforming sensation has died down significantly since its inception. The truth of the matter is, there are probably more people in the world who are still torn up over NBC's decision to cancel Blossom than there are gamers waiting with bated breath for this sequel. Rather than trying to make the leap to the next-generation of gaming, Spyro's new adventure remains firmly planted in the 32-bit era. Even with a new developer leading the way, nothing has changed, and believe it or not, it's gotten a lot worse. Spyro has always been about hyperactive gameplay, where racing after thieves, flying through rings, and ramming adversaries at breakneck speeds are the norm. Check Six did a decent job of capturing the intricacies of gameplay, primarily Spyro's arsenal of moves, but completely neglected everything else. The challenges are so easy they're laughable. The graphics haven't improved. The framerate chugs. The list goes on and on. Once a platforming king, now mascot roadkill. It would be in your best interest to look the other way, and let your purple friend die in peace. – REINER THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE W Concept: A high-end sequel that misses every mark E Graphics: Similar in design to the 32- bit series, but the worlds are not nearly as detailed, the framerate skips like a broken record, and the effects belong on the Atari Jaguar W Sound: Catchy jingles and goofy high-pitched character voices E Playability: The gameplay has been replicated nicely, but there's nothing new to experience, and the entire adventure is void of challenge E Entertainment: Proof that a little purple dragon can physically kiss his own ass goodbye п Replay Value: Moderate | SECOND OPINION | At the risk of sounding like a | grumpy sumbitch (too late!) 1 | have to say that this looks like | a PS-X game and the framerate seems to be clocking in at | about 20 fps. The once- | legendary Spyro franchise has fallen hard and fast. Even worse, it's the same tedious | gem-collecting sleepwalk that has been done to death a | million times before. 1 could really give a flying dragon fart | about this game. MATES W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM I PUBLISHER UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE I DEVELOPER EQUINOX/CHECK SIX STUDIOS I RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 GAMEINFORMER 101 REVIEWS GAMECUBE 1 JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE THE INTERACTIVE BLOCKBUSTER Under Fire. However, there were a lot of people that didn't, most of whom felt the game was too easy, too short, and not as conceptually complex as many top console FPS titles. | expect that gamers will be equally split over NightFire, a sequel that follows closely in the footsteps of its predecessor. Whether or not you like this game is going to depend on what kind of a person you are. If you're a hardcore, FPS fanatic, the kind that spends sleepless night fragging with your clan on Unreal Tournament or Counter-Strike, | doubt that you'll find the first-person segments of NightFire to be demanding or innovative enough to be worth the time. But, if you love the silly, far- fetched vibe of the films, and want a game that tries to encompass many different aspects of the Bond mojo into one attractive package, this should do the job nicely. The single-player mode is a blast, weaving in racing, vehicular combat, rail-based shooting, first-person action, and some gorgeous cinematics into an over-the- top storyline. Unfortunately, it's also very short, which means that you'll have to get your money’s worth in the excellent multiplayer modes. — MATT | thoroughly enjoyed Agent THE BOTTOM LINE W Concept: A breezy mix of racing, first- person action, and track shooter gameplay set in an alternate Bond universe W Graphics: The face models are impressive, and the environments exhibit a lot of detail B Sound: A nice score, witty Bond- isms, and a hilarious NightFire theme make for winning audio п Playability: The auto-targeting isn't the greatest, but all three facets of the gameplay package are well done Wi Entertainment: Don't think too hard and you'll have a great, if brief time, with NightFire W Replay Value: Moderately High SECOND OPINION | 1 like this game's inclusion of driving and rail shooting їп | theory, but it's this sort of bite- | sized Bond action that makes this title, in practice, less of the first-person shooter that I wanted it to be. Between that and the sometimes iffy targeting, this is glitz that won't garner some of the FPS glamour. Of course, it's still ] entertaining – which isn't a bad | thing to have going for you. KATO - 7.75 W STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/RACING Ш PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS I DEVELOPER ELECTRONIC ARTS W RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 102 GAME INFORMER GAMECUBE QUICKIES HREK: EXTRA LARGE LAYER ACTION PUBLISHER TDK MEDIACTIVE E RELEASE OCTOBER 30 Playing this game is like someone shoving a wire brush down your esophagus then pulling it out your you- know-what. It's painful; it's embarrassing; and it's something that you try to == forget about the moment it's over. Any game that's plot is built around Merlin (the most powerful wizard who ever lived, according to Arthurian legend) being taken prisoner by some sort of facacta ice queen deserves nothing short Я of a slap. – KRISTIAN BLOOD OMEN 2 W STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE E PUBLISHER EIDOS INTERACTIVE I RELEASE DECEMBER 3 Nine months and no enhancements later, Blood / | Omen 2 hits the ‘Cube. Surprisingly, it's still darn good to be evil with Kain and his vampiring ways. Both the puzzles and combat are simplistic, but still offer enjoyment. The gothic atmosphere is a great setting for a game, too. I'd like to see some depth added to the series next time, with more of both speed and stealth. This and BloodRayne are almost dead even for gory action/adventure honors. — JUSTIN SWINGERZ GOLF STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS PUBLISHER EIDOS INTERACTIVE E RELEASE OCTOBER 24 If there are any golf title > developers reading this, please take the following to heart: Enough with the damned analog swing already! | know it's trendy right now, but so were legwarmers at one point. | like the presentation, but the wind's effect on your ball Seems to be inconsistent when | was counting on it. These issues, coupled with the inaccurate distance metering and ball control, leave us with a good, but not [87.75 g olf gami KRISTIAN DEAD TO RIGHTS E STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION E PUBLISHER NAMCO W RELEASE DECEMBER 5 Dead to Rights was great on Xbox, and the GameCube version’s streamlined control scheme (which allows you to quickly sic Shadow on foes and showcases improved auto- targeting) makes it a boon to ‘Cubivores looking for some balls-out action. Another thing | like was that the emphasis on the at-times frustrating minigames has been diminished. Still, I'm really not a fan of the brawling sequences. Why should | have to duke it out like some back alley palooka when | could be enjoying DTR's acrobatic and fluid gunplay? If you're a Nintendo loyalist who's never experienced Max Payne, this should be the next game you buy. - MATT FIFA 2003 STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS E RELEASE NOVEMBER 5 Maybe it's just me, but | could swear that this FIFA has good = headers and even —— © some juggling — unlike the PlayStation 2 version. What still = mee remains, however, is some uneven Al that made my CPU-controlled teammates seem totally lost at times. While EA's frontend is usually irreproachable, | wish it would have focused less on Champions League-style events and put in more international teams (where's Japan?). Oh yeah, EA will probably make me buy a separate game for that. It's still а good game, but one in need of a pz definitive step forward. – KATO dà NIGHTCRAWLER LAM 78 p ili X-MEN: NEXT DIMENSION STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION IBLISHER THQ Ш RELEASE OCTOBER 22 X-Men fans have plenty to get excited about with this title. Not only is it the best in the series, by far, but it actually supports a decent combat system with a fairly balanced cast. Unfortunately, the graphics and animation aren't much better than in the previous PS2 version, and the controller will take time to get used to. If Activision can improve the superficial aspects and make the combat deeper and more precise, this series can be a serious contender. — CHET WRECKLESS: THE YAKUZA MISSIONS W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER RACING E PUBLISHER ACTIVISION E RELEASE NOVEMBER 13 mes songs 5 This is essentially 3 * a slightly better- looking version of the PS2 Wreckless, which means that it doesn’t have the eerie sepia-tone realism of the gorgeous, but not entirely fun, Xbox disappointment. The addition of weapons and two-player mission are welcome indeed, and the more modest graphical presentation means that your dune buggy actually feels like it’s travelling faster than 40 mph. However, | wouldn’t go so far as to call this a must- buy game. The city is often hard to navigate, and the directional arrow is not very helpful. Also, although it’s impressive to see so many people and objects onscreen at once, it often feels like clutter for the sake of clutter. - MATT әш 20} VOIH3INV IN3ANIVIBIN3 HILNANOO ANOS ÁQ pasuar "МОШУНОЗІМІ TVLIDIG AQ pedojene II ‘OpUayUIN JO ѕјешәред әд ILWHOdHOD 3UVMLOS SNL "S3Sno93Wwvg gano G) шәд5/є soueapy @Aog әшеку 9 0} uoog бшшод guoneis/Aelg кй VW әоиелрү uuojsaur4 - ung dol Xnosureo ораи эш pue eouenpy fog aureo) ‘@ ^, "оу шәшшерәиз зәпдшод fuos jo syeuwapen pazajsêa are обо (jue, ‚54, eui pue ,uoneigfetg, "ueisfs weuurey Gereijos ‘C31IBIHOUG ATSS3UdXG SI ISN H3HLO НО 30NVNHOSH3d Опапа ISN ЗАОН Зіна O4 X13108 CXONSINI РӘ Маза би iv ‘S3UNLOld 1АПОЛУНУЗ 2; ш E 3N0AH33 iLASNNS LU J2WOH ANNO? 1539 AHL ATNO EXT "$plinter Cell is in the top three most graphically astounding video games l've ever played." This scope will show the location of any warm body near you ay Never underestimate the usefulness of a fiber-optic cable New reports will pop up from time to time during cutscenes 104 GAME INFORMER SPLINTER CELL MADE IN THE SHADE his game has received far more than its fair share T of hype from the media, which is due to a number of factors. Number one: Ubi Soft really, really needs a smash hit console title. Sure, it's seen some successes with other Tom Clancy titles, but an Xbox game that everyone can get on board with is something that is very high on the wish list of Ubi Soft brass. Number two: The Xbox is also in dire need of a smash hit. Remember Halo? Yeah, so do we, and we're looking forward to the sequel, but it sounds like most of us will be collecting social security by the time it finally rolls out. There hasn't been anything exclusive for the 'box that has been worth a damn since that faithful launch title, so Microsoft has been pulling with both arms to get this game on the map, too. Number three: Splinter Cell looks bloody amazing. That in itself will create a goodly amount of buzz. Add these together, and you have a product that everyone wants to like, but one which is bound to be heavily examined. Expectation and scrutiny will usually breed one of two things – elation or disappointment. | can say with no qualms whatsoever that | am not elated with this game. However, I’m not disappointed either — at least not in the truest sense of the word. | am quite satisfied with the game's graphics. In fact, Splinter Cell is in the top three most graphically astounding video games I’ve ever played. Every nuance of the visual presentation has been delivered with razor-sharp precision. Ш STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER — — i oci rue This soundproof room is as pretty as it is quiet From soft glow lighting effects to environmental animations (a thick plastic curtain will behave exactly like its real-world coun- terpart if disturbed), to the unbelievable shadowing system, this game has set a graphical benchmark in the field. Unhappily, the game begins to run into some fairly significant problems as the levels progress, and the complexity of their goals mounts. The ultimate outcome of Splinter's perhaps overzealous mission structure is a common one: Every level increasingly becomes a lesson in trial and error. The question isn't, “Okay, how am | going to get through this level?” It instead becomes, “How am | going to get to the next save point without dying because | know I'm going to be using it a lot?” Do you see the difference? | would be the first to say that the missions are interesting from a plot perspective, but the execution needs attention. This, coupled with systematic hiccups such as poor collision detection and strange alarm tripping serve to keep Splinter Cell from realizing its full potential. What we have on our hands is a game that is most ча assuredly good, but far from the masterpiece that Halo was. If | could rate a дате based purely on its graphical power, there's no doubt that this would have been given a 10 instantly. The gameplay simply acts as a moderate restraint on the overall enjoyment the title can deliver. It's worthy of purchase, but not worship. – KRISTIAN Stairs are for weenies REAL STUDIOS I RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 m Concept: Control a really cool character in the bestlooking Xbox game to date W Graphics: Your big black box is taken to the limits of its processing abilities to throw up incredibly realistic visuals m Sound: It's weird that complexes in the heart of a former Soviet republic have the same alarm klaxons as CIA headquarters does...who knew? W Playability: The control interface is pretty unique, which means you're not going to be able to get away with skipping the training missions W Entertainment: It's definitely fun, but the mission structure begins to wear thin after a while m Replay Value: Low SECOND OPINION | This is certainly a worthy | Xbox exclusive, but one that | stumbles in the face of hype and high expectations. Mainly, Splinter Cell lacks polish in a number of key areas. Head shots | don't always connect - a real | pain during stealth missions. Detection sometimes elicits inconsistent effects, so stealth missions simply become tedious | tests of trial and error. Also, the stage design can occasionally feel disjointed and unclear, | which means that during certain | | levels you'll spend considerable | | time confused about your next | action. While these are serious I faults that cause frustration | throughout, Splinter Cell still | manages to be enjoyable more | | | often than not. If you go into this expecting a MGS 2 killer, | you're going to be disappointed. | Nevertheless, it's one of the better stealth games available [nrw шыч Дина noe pona poring voce. | CHET - 8.75 “Orta actu- ally comes packed with a few surprising enhancements, injecting some depth into the gameplay.” Many of the bosses require you to use the booster to circle around The graphics are very nice, of course. The lighting in the forest will impress Dodging certain obstacles can be confusing at times, which often results in cheap hits SPREADING ITS WINGS ON XBOX form. As soon as Sega hinted that it would resurrect the franchise, | prayed to the almighty Dragoon that it would be a sequel to perhaps the previous generation's best RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga. However, Sega had other plans. Instead, we get the third incarnation in the shooter line, which definitely isn't a bad thing. In fact, while | sort of expected Sega simply to poop this one out, Orta actually comes packed with a few surprising enhance- ments, injecting some depth into the gameplay. First, players have the ability to jet forward and backward. This mechanic comes in handy when dodging attacks and busting through encroaching enemies, but its main purpose allows the player to circle a target - which is somewhat similar to Saga's combat system. Second, the dragon can change into one of three forms on the fly. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses, which means that you must constantly consider which form will be most advantageous. Furthermore, | am absolutely stunned with Orta's presenta- tion. Although the story can feel convoluted at times, the B anzer is back in action, but certainly not in its coolest graphics, the environments, the music, and especially the language really help to immerse you in the experience. Throughout the adventure, the characters speak a language that actually combines German, Japanese, English, Latin, and a few others. Unfortunately, Orta isn't without a few annoying problems. First, despite the additions, it still plays a little too much like its predecessor, which means that you're stuck on a linear flight path most of the time. | had sincerely hoped that the new development team at Sega would be more innovative with this product, or at least grant the player a little additional freedom to move. Second, like in previous installments, dodging objects and enemy fire still seems to depend on luck more than skill, which often results in taking an unfair amount of damage. And, on a few occasions, you simply don't see where the attack is coming from until you get hit three or four times! Fans of the series will definitely erupt with joy the moment they pop this bad boy into their Xbox. Even if you're not a fan, though, Orta will definitely keep you amused for a weekend. -CHET W STYLE |-PLAYER SHOOTER Ш PUBLISHER SEGA Ш DEVELOPER SMILEBIT Ш RELEASE JANUARY 14 emote mines ready! The offensive dragon has the firing power, but can't use the booster There are some cool events, like killing all of the dragons that have yet to be given life THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN m Concept: Same as the previous games but with a few new gameplay features W Graphics: The graphics are, of course, nothing but beautiful W Sound: | love the music, and the language that Sega developed specifically for the game only enhances the experience W Playability: Targeting, fighting, and changing forms presents no problems, but dodging objects and enemy fire proves difficult п Entertainment: A solid game in a genre that is all but dead. It has a few problems, but still manages to provide a good time W Replay Value: Moderate | SECOND OPINION | From the ashes of the Sega | | Satum cometh one of the most | | stylistic and gameplay intensive | shooters in all of gaming. Panzer | | Dragoon is most certainly back | | in all of its splendor. While | | it would have been nice to | move the series to complete 1 3D, developer Smilebit did a | commendable job recreating | | the gameplay intricacies and © | | general atmosphere that the | | series’ original developer, Team | | Andromeda, hed lan th, | The lock-on technology, timed | | events, and end of level grading | | system haven't changed in the | | slightest. The only significant | | enhancements are more orless | | limited to a new dash maneuver, | which manifests new strategies, | | and the ability to level up and | switch dragons on the fly. Of | course, the graphics are simply | out of this world, tapping into | | every facet of the Xbox har- | ware. I loved the Saturn series, and this entry is just as good, | but more so in that nostalgic | kind of way. | GAME INFORMER 105 ъ= BMX XXX YOU WANT THE BREAST, YOU GOT IT strip club, BMX XXX loves to tease yov. But at the end of the day, you feel a bit ripped off." That large donut means death, and not because of its saturated fat content Use a roman candle to take out the affectionate sheep balloons 106 GAME INFORMER bought into the hype as much as anybody. Still, | had high hopes that Z-Axis, a developer with the ability to topple Tony Hawk, would give me plenty of other reasons to love this game besides a peep show. While BMX XXX takes a step forward in bringing adult content to games, it also takes a Step backwards in the gameplay department. ВМХ XXX has all the features I've come to expect — massive levels, no time limit (but a well-done health meter), and creative missions. Flatland tricks give you more to do out of a manual, and the excellent trick modifier is expanded. Many of the tasks your character is charged with completing are hilarious. One requires scoring 30,000 points while carrying a guy in a port- o-potty to cure his constipation. Another mission makes you grind around a huge, inflatable woman's breasts, which causes her to deflate and land in an amusing position. The script, while groan inducing at times, has plenty of laughs in it. Two of the eight stages are actually competitions. They are very demanding, and deviate from the typical (and boring) scoring challenge. Instead, creativity and variety are required. Tricking in the same half-pipe for the entire run won't get you very far. Wall-rides, grinds, and flatland tricks are all needed to earn a medal. The main draw here — and the reason you're reading this — is the adult content. Indeed, XXX delivers with topless riders (albeit without the promised adjustable bustline) and nudie FMV. The game's not just giving the stuff away, though. You'll work your butt off for these rewards. Each level has videos of М о doubt you've heard the buzz on this game. We Scores strippers to unlock — either by collecting the 40 to 50 items in a stage, finding all 20 level gaps, or getting first place in the competitions. It's motivation to persevere, but most adults have plenty of other, easier means to view a nice rack. With awful collision and controls that make even the simplest moves . inconsistent, | don't e 4 know who cussed more: the characters in the вате, or me. Without a Revert, combos are continued by doing very awkward stalls. The goals have very vague or non-existent directions. Discovering what the hell it is you're supposed to do is half the challenge — the half | don't like. If it had Aggressive Inline's infinite completion time, this wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, XXX takes Tony 4's timed mission approach, without the auto restart. I'm not all that thrilled with the amount of "break four of this" or "bring me five of these" missions, either. If all you want is a game with boobies and four-letter words, this is your only choice. If a good action/sports game is what you're after, there are better options out there. Like a real strip club, BMX XXX loves to tease you. But at the end of the day, you feel a bit ripped off. — JUSTIN W STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION/SPORTS Ш PUBLISHER А 1 know there's a bike in this picture somewhere, but I'm having trouble focusing on it CCLAIM Ш DEVELOPER Z-AXIS Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 19 This is what we call product placement THE BOTTOM LINE E 7.75 W Concept: Will people buy a mediocre action/sports game if it has breasts and fbombs? ш Graphics: While there are some sweet effects, many things in the environment — especially NPCs — just look bad W Sound: You'll be singing "You can &et this lapdance here for free" all day. Great voiceovers, too W Playability: Buggy and unpolished control left me very disappointed п Entertainment: Humping dogs and girl-girl video is all well and good, but | wish XXX offered more of the things | loved in Aggressive Inline W Replay Value: Moderate | As a big fan of both the Dave Mirra series and developer Z-Axis, | have to say that I'm | disappointed by BMX XXX. | The much-publicized portion of the game - the down n’ dirty comedy and frontal female | nudity — is definitely going to | be the reason a lot of people | buy this game. Although I did | get some chuckles from the | humor, the nudity seems tobe | а cheap gimmick. Is it worth i putting in dozens of hours | winning the game's difficult | | | competition levels to open up some 15-second glimpses of bared breasts? If | was 15, I might say yes, but | suspect older gamers have better things to do with their time. Still, there is some solid gameplay here; Т especially like the flatland | tricks and perfecting the use of 1 the modifier button. However, — | the myriad annoyances -like — | | bad collision and unclear level — | goals - keeps BMX XXX from reaching the level of Aggressive. | Inline or Tony Hawk 4. | MATT - 7.75 | 1 > КОМАМ! ® 350+ VR MISSIONS 150+ ALTERNATIVE MISSIONS 5 SNAKE TALES EUROPEAN EXTREME MODE CASTING THEATER BOSS SURVIVAL MODE HIDDEN PLAYABLE CHARACTERS ENTIRE SONS OF LIBERTY™ GAME! MERYL RETURNS! Blood and Gore Partial Nudity Violence CONTENT RATED BY SRB METAL GEAR®, METAL GEAR SOLID®, SONS OF LIBERTY™ and SUBSTANCE™ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, INC. © 1987 2002 KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN. KONAMIO is a к registered trademark of КОМАМ! CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. “Trite or no, this is a decent title from a company that has continually shown a tradi- tion of gaming excellence” Red eyes and a sword. It must be a drunk ninja! j CS This top-secret beam weapon makes short work of your enemies The car-sub level really shows off this game's graphical prowess 108 GAME INFORMER \ JAMES BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE MONEYPENNY, YOU AROUSE ME the right moves in all the right places. But that's all it does. If a game could be shoved through a cookie- cutter and placed on store shelves, NightFire would fit the bill perfectly. That being said, if I'm going to play a game built around focustesting and corporate bureaucracy ("Gentlemen, we need a game that will make us a lot of money. Suggestions?" “How about a James Bond game that has something to do with nukes?” “Brilliant, Johnson! You're getting a big raise!!”), l'm glad it's from EA. Trite or no, this is a decent title from a company that has continually shown a tradition of gaming excellence. First and foremost, James Bond has never looked better than he does in this installment — video game-wise, anyway. The environments you travel through are impressive to say the least, especially the water-oriented levels. It's obvious that the developers took full advantage of the processing power they had at their disposal, as the character models and vehicles accent the rich world through which you traverse. Unfortunately, the bodies of your blasted enemies disappear almost immediately after they fall. This may be due in part to the game's T rating, but it's disappointing nonetheless. Also annoying is the mission saving layout. Case in po NI ightFire is a game full of payoffs; that is, it makes all W STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/RACING Ш PUBLISHER EA GAMES/MGM INTERACTIVE Ш DEVELOPER EUROCOM/EA GAMES NW RELEASE NOVEMBER 14 “You're hot, I'm hot...let's make out.” During one mission, | was trying to be as stealthy as possible while | inched along a wall with three windows in it. On the other side of the wall were two guards who walked back and forth along the hall on their patrol. Naturally, if one of them saw me sneaking past the window they'd sound the alarm. Well, as you may have guessed, | was sniffed out during my first attempt, so | restarted to what | thought would be the last load point, but no. It took me back to the beginning of the entire level. If you die, however, you're started at or near your last load point. Strange, no? All complaining aside, this is a Bond game, and there are a lot of cool secrets and shortcuts to explore and discover. Plus, the action is quite intense and expertly paced. From piloting a car that converts into a submarine, to wading through waves of gun-toting naughty people, | was having a lot of fun — even if | did have a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next. Is it as good as GoldenEye? In most ways, yes it is. Obviously, the graphics are much improved, but | also got the thrill of the kill, and the satisfaction from knowing | had found those little 007 stealth paths. Not a bad game, but it's nothing more than what you're expecting. – KRISTIAN "Okay, but you're going to have to give me some Abreva when we're done" THE BOTTOM LINE m Concept: Join Mr. Bond as he infiltrates secret enemy bases and carries on his man-whore tendencies m Graphics: The water effects are particularly stunning in a &raphical palette that shows few weaknesses E Sound: The same Bond-ish music you remember from the movies, but conspicuously absent are the umpteen remakes of Live and Let Die ш Playability: Some may grow to hate the default auto-aim feature, as it drastically reduces run- and-gun headshots п Entertainment: A first-person shooter done by the numbers п Replay Value: Moderately High SECOND OPINION There is just something about the whole Bond package that | can take an average game and | make it better. NightFire is a perfect example of just such a game, because if this title were devoid of the Bond universe, | would definitely score it lower. | As it stands, it has all the | &adgets, guns, cars, stunts, and | | voluptuous ladies that make for | a pleasurable experience to any | 007 afficionado. The adventure is a tad short, and the game control lacks the up-close and personal weapon smash that I | so love to use when changing ammo in first-person shooters, but the game is competent. I | don't really understand why this version isn't Xbox Live enabled, but I'll just chalk that one up to | a mistake on EA's part and hope | | that it corrects this oversight in | the next installment. | ANDY - 7.75 | All else has failed. The lines between good and evil have been drawn: There's you and there's everybody else. Your weapon is a 40-foot-tall walking death machine. Your mission is destruction. Tanks, helicopters, buildings, the planet itself. Welcome to war in the 315% century, where peace is one of those things you read about. For added destruction play online with Xbox Liv Engage others on a massive scale. Download new 'Mechs, new missions, even enemies. a This is epic devastation taken to a whole new level and it's only available on Xbox Live. Violence Blood www.xbox.com DAY:1:STUDI!OSs www.mechassault.com 4 қ. [5 JF fasastudio| Л ONLINE ENABLED а | | Reptilan ET $ ж v d ^ & " ; З e mex b = азы x м. wf. М Hw а ENS “з m r ~. È l > | 2 ме P. 2 » = i М EN % p w L^ — KIREHASHI THE BOTTOM LINE EET MORTAL KOMBAT: -— e Midway takes its time, and STRAIGHT-SWORD- SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL STUPID, MAN! 5 ! T: iconic superhero THE BOTTOM LINE delivers one of the best supposedly follows aan fighters around the creed of truth and п Graphics: honor; yet there is neither truth The blood falls like rain out nor honor in a game potent B LOO DY B R | LLIA N T of wicked-looking character о NT ы А revolting action game " n inn [^ " i W Sound: of it. Perhaps Superman is with the Superman license eadly Alliance is the Mortal Kombat evolution I've waited for since MK І. Gone аге the The metal-on-metal clang jaded toward Xbox for its plastered on top days of shared moves for every character. These fighters have three unique styles of weapons is a wondrous overuse of the Kryptonitegreen W Graphics: = including one for weapons. Each style brings about accurately modeled moves and thing color. Or maybe, just maybe The environments are combos, and can be switched on the fly. The gameplay features less button-mashing than п Playability: a Batman fanatic cursed this teeming with details and the Tekken or even Virtua Fighter. That doesn't mean fewer combos, however; it equals more The fighting styles, license, preventing it from ever к cloth technology strategy. It makes the game more of an art to master. reversals, and combos transforming. into a significant pe ue p Seeing everything Deadly Alliance has to offer will take you an eternity. Every hard-fought rock. Only one Fatality each, video game. m Sound: victory earns “koins” of various colors, to be spent at the Krypt. Buy a "koffin" to win a prize. though One thing is certain: You The. оланан Score de It's like 676 Christmas presents — some sweaters and tube socks, but lots of good stuff, too. п Entertainment: should avoid this game like decent, but Superman's You'll unlock characters (over 20), costumes, and wacky videos. The Konquest (mission) mode This is definitely a meaty, you would skinnydipping voice sounds like a robot is an effective and lengthy training course, and really helps you get to know the fighters. ооу б е i on Vicodin. "Must...save... Visually, Deadly Alliance trails only Dead or Alive 3. Characters just look bad ass, and the pping p with your grandparents. Its Lois." т Е oz. Porterhouse with а only redeeming quality is А blood effect rules — it actually rolls down body parts and splatters on the ground. Cool points sword sticking out of it Superman Уллары c midi are off the chart in this game, and I'm willing to bet sales will be, too. Mortal Kombat: Deadly . ede eu пое cro Alliance isn't all hype, and should be the next fight JUSTIN Arop ay Vales around in the wind and uses with asinine aerial combat, tance isn't all hype, and should be the next fighter you own. — High a realistic physics model. | kid annoying missions, and a you not, people. Outside of this mesmerizing visual, every aspect is atrocious in design, highly frustrating, or just flat-out stupid. The aerial combat blistering difficulty W Entertainment: The video game equivalent of getting punched in the eye and kicked in the groin atthe same time makes use of an obnoxious п Replay Value: paint-by-numbers, color-coding Moderately Low system that asks players NSS a SSS НЕЕ to use certain powers (heat | SECOND OPINION | А es “BUTTERFLY — ——KATADA- —nAn-cHÜAD— KATANA ы — а “I think something's wrong with these X-Ray specs.” Raiden requires unlocking, but he's worth the effort ау gg COND n OPINIO! P м К ® | The Xbox MKDA is just as sweet | 2^ a : as the PS2 version. Even if you У E have the old controller, execut- | | ing moves and elaborate combos | | isn't tough, once you get used / Î toit. With an awesome combat | system, sweet graphics, slick characters, a solid one-player vision, freeze breath, etc.) for | 5 specific colored enemies. I'm er plica tae Superman, damn it! My farts Фр game that was should level towns! | shouldbe worth a crap (the Atari 2600 able to destroy adversaries any | Superman isn't as cool as you way | see fit! If this wasn’t bad | pagina N EE enough, a good majority of the | that fact. Е d on tedious’ missions are just confusing or [ out of context. control and annoying color-coded All around, this game is the enemies, Superman: The Man of | polar opposite of super. Do те | pas в nici soe a favor and run if you ever find | te Metropolis municipal sı - 2.58 PR б New character Во Rai Cho's Fatality really throws his Thrust your sword into your foe to start А 10 feet of it. | MATT - 4! weight around the crimson faucet Ш STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER FIGHTING BI PUBLISHER MIDWAY Ш DEVELOPER MIDWAY W RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 W STYLE |-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER ATARI E DEVELOPER CIRCUS FREAK STUDIOS W RELEASE NOVEMBER 5 110 GAME INFORMER Mou got the Rocket Launch wae UNREAL CHAMPIONSHIP A NEW ALIAS FOR UT 2K3 riginally, Epic planned to design Unreal Championship as an FPS for the console, meaning that it was taking into consideration the controller interface. However, it changed its game plan, turning UC into a port of Unreal Tournament 2003. While Microsoft is lucky to have UT 2KG, the original design calls for the precision of a mouse and keyboard to truly appreciate the experience. Before you console gamers start grumbling, hear me out. UT 2K3 features an elaborate, fast-paced combat system. The controller simply lacks the precision to effectively transform a dodge into a flip, and then nail the enemy. Furthermore, the maps combine a mix of vertical and horizontal targeting that make using precision weapons impractical. As a result, the intended experience is, in part, lost. Nevertheless, if you're new to UT, you'll probably overlook these problems, especially since UC is the most addictive multiplayer FPS on Xbox. There are a variety of weapons, maps, mods, and game types. If UC catches on, you can expect more content, thanks to the hard drive. Although UC is predominantly multiplayer, it features a decent single-player mode, which is mostly useful for learning the game's intricacies. But even with the challenging bots, the single- player experience alone may not be worth a purchase. Buy it if you've invested in Xbox Live. Otherwise, rent it first. - CHET eee тэл a aa The split-screen option is available, but not the best way to play Ш STYLE | ТО 16-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER INFOGRAMES Ш DEVELOPER EPIC Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 m Concept: One of the best multiplayer FPSs, which is almost the same as the PC version, but with a few different maps m Graphics: Damn nice looking, but it is slightly inferior to UT 2K3 on a good PC W Sound: The sounds and taunts rock, and the music, which has been changed some, is better or worse depending on the map W Playability: Since this game is designed for PC, the control is less precise on the Xbox, but fares well against other Xbox FPSs m Entertainment: A great FPS that will certainly burn up many, many hours on Xbox Live. Outside of the sports games, there's no better reason to play online п Replay Value: High | SECOND OPINION | | I'm not sure how much 1 can say | about this game, because there really isn't much to it. Here | It goes: This is meant to be a multiplayer game - and that's it. Playing single-player is interest- | | ingtoa point, but ultimately it becomes a lesson in repetition: Shoot at someone in a poorly lit environment with lots of crap | everywhere, and continue to | do so until your target is dead or your Ritalin runs out. The multiplayer component is filled | with action, and if you're on a | board filled with people who | enjoy the strategic elements of | play, things can get interesting | quickly. Thus, Xbox Live is | almost a required component | to really enjoy UC the way it | | was meant to be. Sure, you сап | invite a few friends over and | have it out, but those small, | segmented screens are taxing | on the eyes after a while. That's | | not the game's fault, it’s just the | | nature of the beast. KRISTIAN - 7.75 | XBOX ) A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY hose who've played the Ti: Shenmue are accus- tomed to hero Ryo's joyless demeanor. The guy rebukes advances from babes; all he wants to talk about is his dead dad; and for heaven's sake – change your clothes! No, Ryo hasn't changed for this Sequel, and there's a lot that remains the same. | discovered that | mainly wanted to play this title to see what would happen with the story, rather than for its gameplay. The one big advantage Shenmue II has over its prede- cessor is that it's much larger. While the Xbox still has to load each section of the town, there is much more to marvel at and participate in. Earning money, and more QTEs, minigames, and Free Battles will make downtime more bearable. Moreover, saves are available anywhere, and time can be compressed if you so desire. However, having to move crates and books remain the boring tasks that they are. | can appreciate the realism of making money, but it wears thin after awhile. Perhaps the worst thing that's the same is Ryo. His script is still fixed on the task before him, which means that for all its gifts of freedom, Shenmue II still largely plays out in a rather linear fashion. If you've played through the first one, you'll want to do so with this sequel — warts and all. Although I'm glad to be included in that group, the rest of you might want to proceed with caution, if at all. – КАТО | SECOND OPINION | REVIEWS THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN g SERE E Concept: Picks up right after the original in both story and spirit m Graphics: Apart from a few upgrades, this game still looks like it's on the Dreamcast m Sound: The great voice-overs, environmental sounds, and sweeping music add a lot W Playability: Contains a deep fighting system all its own, but Ryo still moves like he's got a Stick up his butt. п Entertainment: Ryo's quest may be larger, but I'd be surprised if this title garners a larger audience on the Xbox п Replay Value: Moderately Low. It really comes down to this: Are you interested in playing a Dreamcast game? І, for one, am not. Yes, Shenmue II is entertain- | ing in its own quirky way, but | | Just can't get over its antiquated appearance and horrendous load times. | enjoyed the minigames, | but there isn’t nearly enough here for me to recommend a purchase. KRISTIAN - 7| Ш STYLE 1-PLAYER ADVENTURE Ш PUBLISHER SEGA ШЕ DEVELOPER AM2 Ш RELEASE OCTOBER 30 GAMEINFORMER 111 i eas DAY-14 TIME 00:00:14 OTDOWN x 0000 XBOX р BSEC AM 2 : a ‘gy ТНЕ BOTTOM LINE PHANTOM ec» M CRASH METAL GEAR SOLI m МҮЕЇСОМЕ ТО РНАМТОМ РІАМЕТ SUBSTANCE that nudes те entre Sons of Liberty game and a ton of don't think I've ever come THE BOTTOM LINE ARTH RITIC WITH AGE bonus features across a mech game quite EEN А 1 А А m Graphics: like Phantom Crash. For T he proverb "good things will come to those who wait" doesn't exactly exemplify the Konami neglected to tap into instance, its characters seem experience Xbox owners will have with this yearlate incarnation of Hideo Kojima's the power of Xbox, as the more out of an RPG than some "€ critically acclaimed Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. To be quite frank, it's more of a framerate slows when the typically boring tale about love/hate relationship. On the one hand, this is one of the greatest games of all time, and it's action becomes frenzied futuristic military operations: In Ё Concept: : loaded to the hilt with Xboxexclusive excess. At the same time, however, Konami didn't take E Sound: this sense, the title brings some ооо the time to optimize the game їо run smoothly on this powerful console, which becomes readily Phenomenal voice-acting and unique traits that your average deathmatch chaos and apparent when the game slows down and chugs during intense action sequences and a gripping score mech fan may or may not wraps them in a kooky moments where visual effects are in great abundance. п Playability: appreciate. Japanese wrapper So basically, what Konami is proposing is an eye for an eye. "Here's a bunch of amazing new The controls are just as Phantom Crash's universe iS ш Graphics: material, but it's not going to run as smoothly as it should." Don't get me wrong, even with ШОП on e made up of isolated battles The muzzle flashes, cloaking occasional moments of slowdown, this is still one amazing game and something Xbox fans minigames bring about called Rumblings. Everyone is a disguises, and missile trails should run out and purchase immediately. | just can't believe Konami didn't take the time to different strategies contestant in these melees, and are соо! add the polish that would have made this the definitive version. Worse yet, this is going to give Ў Я Са | S A п Entertainment: as such, has a story to tell. Like ш Sound: PlayStation 2 owners a nuclear-sized weapon for the age-old console debate. “It runs fine on my The same great game with some online RPG, this setup Offers an eclectic Japanese system, man. The Xbox must suck!” newfound longevity makes the battlefield a little soundtrack, but battle However, Xbox owners can thump their chests a bit over the new material that is included. Replay Value: more personal. More typical of езе The PlayStation 2 version is a thoroughly satisfying experience in and of itself, but it doesn't High ` the genre is the outfitting of your З Playability: come close to touching the Xbox version. With 350 new VR missions, which are referenced mech. Here, you'll find a good E pde ie periodically throughout the story, giving it a unifying theme, and 150 alternative missions that amount of variety, as you can ерле throw new twists to familiar scenes; the "substance" will definitely hold your interest. A majority ches eet Michal Gee Soka customize how strong some of ae A of it may resemble Hogan's Alley, but Konami did a phenomenal job mixing up strategies and Эта have to say yes iE a your upgrades are by a slide bar x ped AE tory and making each game as intense as possible. The rewards that you'll unlock within these modes өйө pod. rather than ent that makes them progressively customization; but the will push you to complete everything, You'll discover new characters, hidden missions, alternate | emphatic one. First, let me say more expensive. combat structure is costumes, and even additional modes. it's a must-have on either Combat is where I began to repetitive Once again, though, Konami's effort is in question. Some of the new modes offer story tnde ks fe ume have my doubts about this title. | ш Replay Value: sequences, but instead of creating cinematics, Konami opted to insert simple sheets of text most action games; and the like its fastpaced nature and Moderately High instead. You may even find yourself reading 12 pages of dense copy before starting a mission. story is completely riveting. The appreciate the fact that I lost uy As a whole, Substance feels as though it was rushed off of the development floor well before added material on Xbox just isn't two of my weapons because my | SECOND OPINION | completion. As it stands, you'll need both versions to experience the best this game has to | касы TENTO arm got blown clean off. But, offer. – REINER ! i ` Phantom Crash is the Gran | lot of the alternate missions lose ue bie levels' layouts are | Turismo 3 of mech games. It T a little when not in the context cool, there are only three of has a stylistic hub screen, 53 of the actual story. Playing as them. Secondly, the game gameplay centered around | мы Ninja is wicked wild, and the rewards you for leaving arenas earning cash to purchase ene ae 4] | Snake Tales are beefy, but they cam eee rude е Кы СТАЕ В e Si vus ue Spend chen and it looks fantastic, but it's ba ER "| | the bouts of slowdown and the paying for repairs. is left me just not that much fun to play. m # E | lack of voiceovers on the new tom between staying and The gameplay 15 shoddy at best | missions show that Konami fighting, or being a chicken. | and the arena-style battles wear | didn't put in a ful effort here. If think most gamers will be as thin within minutes. Ba E equally divided about this fun, | REINER - 7| Completing the VR Missions will bring about hidden ае Tales gives Snake the starring role on the Plant M R $20. If you're an bonuses, like being able to play as Ninja Xbox elitist, however, get this one and enjoy flaunting its W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER ENCORE 1-PLAYER ACTI PUBLISHER KONAMI Ш DEVELOPER KONAMI COMI bonuses. v erlernen PHANTAGRAM INTERACTIVE I RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN lil RELEASE NOVEMBER 5 | JUSTIN - 9.5 Ró 112 GAMEINFORMER but flawed, title. — KATO DRAGON'S LAIR 3D A NOSTALGIC SUCCESS haven't enjoyed an adventure starring Dirk, the bumbling hero, this much since the { arcade decades ago. Drawing only inspiration in look and setting, Dragon's Lair 3D features play mechanics entirely new to the series, which are more akin to games like Tomb Raider and Pitfall. Players will spend most of their time overcoming myriad obstacles and solving puzzles. Fortunately, this element of the gameplay is executed very well; new and interesting Situations to keep you hooked are plentiful. Combat does play a role, but it's clearly secondary to the adventuring component, thank goodness. Enemy А! and targeting are very suspect. DL's only other faults are its control and camera. Movement of Dirk is particularly fidgety and imprecise, but it's adequate enough for players to grow accustomed to after an hour or so. The camera gets hung up in corners and narrow spaces; and when it's out of your control, doesn't always provide an optimal vantage point. Although these problems often result in cheap deaths, Dragonstone remedied the frustration that would normally accompany this with more than enough checkpoints. Despite these problems, fans of the original and of the genre will certainly appreciate the overall product. If you're just a curious gamer, rent it first. - CHET i d n The boss fights are the more interesting Dirk shows us his disco moves parts of combat w ` ^j л t E Y d Ew 07 X Я ay = ALL ЕЕЕ ^ Quick reflexes are sometimes necessary for puzzles... “у A ...and sometimes patience is key BW STYLE 1- ACTION Ш PUBLISHER UB! SOFT Ш DEVELOPER DRAGONSTONE SOFTWARE II RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 THE BOTTOM LINE 17.75 W Concept: The original only inspires this game. It plays more like Tomb Raider or Pitfall, which is good m Graphics: The graphics certainly could've been better, but they at least retain the original's cartoon appearance W Sound: The music is decent and the sound effects are nostalgic B Playabili This is DL's biggest fault. The camera and control are a little spastic and imprecise, some- times resulting in cheap hits W Entertainment: Overall, this is a good package that has finally been done well enough to do justice to the original arcade game W Replay Value: Moderate SECOND OPINION | 1 can't even begin to explain to | you how much of a Dragon’s Lair | dork | was as a child. Let me just | put it to you this way: 1 could | defeat the end boss with my eyes | closed, and I thought it made me | | cool. If that doesn’t scream | | goon, I don't know what does. So | to say | am disappointed in | Dragon's Liar 3D would be an | understatement. certainly | | appreciate all the nods to its old. | | school heritage here (and I | definitely got a kick out of them), | but I would have gladly traded all | | the nostalgia for a game that | Plays better and offers more | interesting puzzles. The controls | are actually surprisingly good in | 3D. However, the use of a run | button in this day and age is | completely unacceptable, | the developers think an analog | joystick was for? Old school fans | will get a kick out of rental and | that's where I'd leave it. | ANDY - 6 ( XBOX ) CAPCOM VS SNK 2 EO STREET FIGHTER'S SECOND COMING?? reviews of this game for Dreamcast, PS2, or GameCube, you know that the Xbox version is almost exactly. the same. Basically, you get a whole host of Capcom and. SNK characters duking it out. And, like in the GameCube version, the EO indicates that players can use the right analog stick to perform special and super moves — a lame addition that any Street Fighter purist will hate. The Xbox version differs from the others in one key area, though. For the first time in history, you can play Street Fighter online through Xbox Live! Of course, this is going to. attract hardcore fighting fans no matter what. However, before purchasing Live and the game just for this experience, be aware that even with a solid ping, it can be difficult to play. As in any fighting game, exact precision is key, so a mere two orthree frames of missing animation can make a significant difference. Although it's not perfect, there will certainly be plenty of people online getting their Street Fighter on, so as long as you can find somebody somewhat close to you, latency. shouldn't present a huge problem. As a fan of 2D fighters for more than a decade, you can count on seeing me throwing a few. Shoryukens and Hadoukens in cyberspace. ~ CHET I f you read any of our THE BOTTOM LINE m Concept: Street Fighter online for the first time W Graphics: They're decent: mediocre animation, low-res sprites against hightes backgrounds. m Sound: Most of the music and sound effects are generic а Playability: Not too bad with Controller S, but the original Xbox d- pad will take some getting used to @ Entertainment: If you can deal with the problems inherent to cyberspace, you could play this forever! m Replay Value: High | changes everything. | still saw | some lag, but this is what every | the deal. Chet's being overly | picky here, in my opinion, and EO | W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER FIGHTING I PUBLISHER CAPCOM E DEVELOPER CAPCOM Ш RELEASE DECEMBER 10 GAMEINFORMER 113 REVIEWS quet un CHOJIN AS FORGETTABLE AS ITS NAME € oming from the creators THE BOTTOM LINE of the Tobal series, | TEEN expected its next venture into the genre to fair well. | really don't understand why, but instead of evolving Kakuto Chojin into the next Tobal, Dream Publishing (a.k.a, Dream Factory) simply ripped off Tekken, and did a sub-par adaptation at that. The combat feels relatively imprecise, button-mashy, and quite random. Either playing on the defensive and then counterattacking, or simply crushing buttons present themselves as the only means of fighting practically, which of course doesn't actually work every time. As a result, instead of making me feel as. if | have built technique by accomplishing something, | felt as if my victories were more the result of luck. Superficially speaking, KC strikes me as one of those ignorant, low-budget American martial arts flicks. Many characters appear goofy in design and in animation, but the sound effects take the cake. After punching an enemy | for the first time, | immediately grew annoyed of the accompanying sound effect — two wooden blocks being slammed together incessantly just gives me a headache. The only redeeming element of any significance is the character models; they offer extreme detail and nice effects. However, this area alone shouldn't persuade you to pick this up instead of | as to why you should play it. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance § or Dead or Alive 3. — CHET Бестау Esas W Concept: A complete, definitely inferior rip-off of Tekk m Graphics: The character models are :ctacular, but the stage designs are lame and the animations are goofy for some characte | swear, hitting someon sounds like two wooden W Playability: The control is a little sticky, but adequate W Entertainment: The annoying sound effects, mediocre combat, and other problems make this game hardly any fun to play. you're thinking Tobal 3, think again m Replay Value: There's nothing wrong with this | game, per se. But to tell you the | Anna Nicole Smith, or better yet, slap myself senseless for a good | with it. The character models are extravagantly detailed, and | but outside of these graphical | touches, there really is nothing else to it. It's a bare-bones fighter that doesn't have a Ш STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER ACTION W PUBLISHER MICROSOFT W DEVELOPER DREAM PUBLISHING I RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 114 GAME INFORMER truth, I'd rather talk politics with | | hour than spend another second | | the lighting is rather impressive, | | personality, or a rhyme or reason | XBOX QUICKIES TOTAL IMMERSION RACING W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER RACING E PUBLISHER UBI SOFT E RELEASE NOVEMBER 5 EJ] This is the racer I've been БИКА Waiting for, and | don't mean И that in a good way. Xbox is — just the haven for this sort B of thing — a soulless racer | that the developer tries to make look good. The thing ] is, the cars may be shiny, but they have no damage, show very little shadow play, and in no way look like they are actually driving on the track. Although I like the attention paid to the finer points of acceleration, the cars feel like soap gliding around a bathtub. Also, I’m sick of bumper car racing as a way to win — even NASCAR games are more sophisticated these days. - KATO [E] 6. 5 FATAL FRAME Ш STYLE |-PLAYER ADVENTURE E PUBLISHER TECMO E RELEASE NOVEMBER 15 “Disconcerting” clearly describes Fatal Frame. Since | dig disconcerting, | dig the game. Although it takes terrible screenshots, the graphics are grainy for a reason, and it adds to the general uncomfortable feel you have while playing it. Like the PS2 version before, Fatal Frame has some of the best sound ever heard (and in 5.1 on the Xbox). Also, Tecmo has graciously included more items, ghosts, and a better save system. Those rare folk that love both Myst and Resident Evil p should praise the heavens. - LISA 9 RALLY FUSION: RACE OF CHAMPIONS E STYLE | TO 4PLAYER RACING SS W PUBLISHER ACTIVISION W RELEASE NOVEMBER 13 C It's the same excellentlooking title that we saw on PlayStation 2 last month, featuring even better texturing y and fewer jaggies on the Xbox. As before, the head-to- head racing circuits are one of A the best reasons | could think of to give rally racing a ty j, although some of the challenge modes are difficult to the point of frustration. My only concern for this game is that it might not be focused enough to find an audience. | suspect that it's not realistic enough for hardcore rally fans, and casual racing folk may find it a bit too difficult. - MATT а 8 TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING W STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/SPORTS E PUBLISHER ATARI W RELEASE OCTOBER 23 In the grand scheme of action/sports games, Transworld Snowboarding is so average it hurts. The trick scheme, which utilizes 7 the analog sticks, is unique, ж. 9 but not necessarily that good. | like doing things like running over reindeer and setting my board on fire, but the bulk of the content here is the same thing you've played a million times before. It's clunky, and some stages are just plain dumb. Transworld is just another log to toss on the fire. — JUSTIN SHREK: SUPER PARTY E STYLE | ТО 4-PLAYER BOARD E PUBLISHER ТОК MEDIACTIVE И RELEASE NOVEMBER 15 ` Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks at the exact moment that 1 ejected this game ll from my Xbox. I then proceeded to sledgehammer into a a thousand little pieces. As much as | despised this meaningless party game, | will say that it is a hair better than Mario Party 4. The board game isn’t nearly as wearisome and while it only has 30 different minigames, some are actually enjoyable. My favorite part of Super Party is how it abruptly ends. There's no celebration or anything. It just kicks you out to the Main Menu. Kids may dig it for its simple nature, but | couldn't find one redeemable quality. It's a real bore and another pointless party game. – REINER а 3.25 SEABLADE E STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER SHOOTER E PUBLISHER SIMON & SCHUSTER INTERACTIVE И RELEASE NOVEMBER 20 | You know the image from Jackass the Movie of the midget kicking himself in ll the head? Well, that's what playing SeaBlade made me feel like. You see, because SeaBlade is an outrageous flight game where you blast enemies in both the air and...you aren't going to believe this...in the water!!! Wow! Featuring perhaps the worst cutscenes | have ever seen, and gameplay that is tedious at best, there really isn't much SeaBlade has to offer. 1 will say the hangar is perhaps the coolest one ever, but outside of that one high point this game is one big stinker. | smelt it, but Simon and Schuster most certainly dealt this craptacular game. - ANDY DEATHROW W STYLE 1 TO 8-PLAYER ACTION E PUBLISHER UBI SOFT E RELEASE OCTOBER 24 # Ubi Soft is billing f this as a futuristic “sports” title of - sorts, but | don't Wu. e rust think that Madden s ? or FIFA have anything to worry about. In Deathrow, you run d = around the arena, trying to pass a disc through your opponent's small circular goal. Basically, it's lacrosse meets Tron with a lot of fighting. There are some nice features here, like customizable rules, eight-player LAN capability, a deep career mode, and unlockable arenas and players; but ultimately, the game itself just isn't interesting enough to hold up to long-term play. | applaud the effort to expand gamers’ horizons beyond the usual sports fare, but Deathrow just doesn't offer enough pu depth or strategy. - MATT 5 aepun pasn aje pue si Je 000] aqnoatueo ој "H3aN333 PENSE аошәјоід Station®2 Screenshot from Xbox™ ideo Ament system Play fro "НДПМЗ44@ 3H1 ELL ПОА '3SN3430 30 INIT LSY1 3A1 ЗНУ NOA “алешіцбіи JSIOM s,uarfe ue aq о раибіѕәр dius e pue *suodeam 75 $ 'KejdauieB э:бәцедѕ equos aaeds dojs-uou цим ‘AE [nj ur pue | mau Ta 2 ‘sunaa ашеббар!л uon ssajauin ay} MON "uorseAut шаце ue jo yuinejsuo "SHISHL SIWNINYALXS "5310395 мпп 3AvS "Age of Mythology drives the gameplay stake through the heart of this genre, and keeps on stabbing" The Egyptians build monuments to gather favor from their gods " Ld "ет? "Do you think anyone can see us "No, but my skirt is starting to ride." 116 GAMEINFORMER AGE OF MYTHOLOGY BACCHANALIA s the release date for a game I’ve been following A and anticipating for a long time draws ever closer, | tend to find myself, getting nervous. Will it play as well as it did in the beta version? Is it going to be buggy? Have | been drawn in by hype, only to be left cold and alone with a vacuous piece of garbage that rots my PC’s innards? These are important questions, people. I’ve been burned before, but not this time. Age of Mythology drives the gameplay stake through the heart of this genre, and keeps on stabbing with sure-to-be award-winning graphical acuity, sound design, and production value. It certainly cannot be denied that Age of Mythology is a visual thoroughbred. Everything from the largest structures to the smallest icon has been engineered to please the eye and mesh with the title's design concepts. Even your menu displays will feel unique when you switch between different civilizations, but none of their effectiveness or ergonomic feel is sacrificed in the least. Additionally, each cutscene is manufactured from the ingame engine — bringing the player near the action, and allowing an up- close look at the fantastic character design. | wish there were an easy way to zoom in on your units during missions, but seeing them from the traditional middle distance provided enough enjoyment that | wasn't left feeling cheated out of a more intimate viewpoint. In terms of how well the game actually plays, rather than how it looks, | couldn't be more pleased. It seems to me that the Ensemble team took to heart all of the suggestions and concerns garnered from fans of the Age of Empires series, and implemented them with precision and tact. | never felt that | was playing catch-up with my scenario; that is, | always had the sense that | was in control of my surroundings, instead of the other way around. In many civilization-building titles, it seems that players are often set upon a predetermined path, and if we don't follow criteria X, Y, and Z, we can forget about graduating to the next level or plot point. This title fosters a doityour-ownway attitude — | may concoct a completely different solution to get to the end of a level than you will, but the game allows both of us to explore these venues without penalizing us for coming up with something the designers didn't foresee or intend. On the’other hand, | am disappointed with how the single- player scenario panned out. Yes, the story is excellent, and | loved the characters and setting; but | don't like the fact that you're forced to play one civilization until the writers come up with a way to incorporate the second and the third. | wish there had been three separate campaigns for the Norse, Egyptians, and Atlantians. | mean, I've. already bought the game; of course I'm going to play through all of the-different cultures. StarCraft was (and still is) a great example of how a partitioned campaign structure can work, and work well. If you're like me, however, you'll be able to absorb this, and enjoy the game for hours upon hours anyway. Criminy, the-multiplayer section alone is worth a purchase. Don't miss out on this title — it's one of the best empire-builder/RTS hybrids that has ever been released. – KRISTIAN W STYLE 1 ТО 12-PLAYER STRATEGY Ш PUBLISHER MICROSOFT lil DEVELOPER ENSEMBLE STUDIOS Ш RELEASE OCTOBER 31 m Concept: The empire-building concept gets blown out in spectacular fashion m Graphics: A zoom feature would have been а nice touch – especially since the unit models are so gorgeous W Sound: Keeping your speakers turned on will be a good idea if you want to catch the voluminous amount of voice acting m Playability: What a great interface – | never felt like | was battling the system instead of my opponent W Entertainment: What was once good is now even better. The Age of Empires series has been officially left in the dust п Replay Value: High | SECOND OPINION If the thought of watching a Cyclops toss an elephant 50 feet into the air isn’t enough to | convince you that this game is | an absolute necessity, then maybe the fact that it's one of the best real-time strategy games of all time will do the trick. As an avid fan of the Age of Empire series, I feared that Age of Mythology would be the same game with a gimmick. Comparisons can definitely be made between the titles, but Age of Mythology outperforms and elevates every little aspect of its predecessor. The gameplay is all the more refined, intuitive, and extravagant. The graphics have also been enhanced to omnipotent proportions with the finest of details accompanying every unit and structure. With a thoroughly rewarding multiplayer component, and unparalleled variety within its campaigns and deities, Age of | Mythology truly is a game for | | | the ages. REINER POM WIN E Gamin Ole You have the POWER. In this contest you don't rely on the luck-of-the draw. You determine if you win or not. You win by outscoring others in a game of skill. Can you solve the puzzle below? It looks simple, but it's only the start. Each of five more puzzles will get harder. But this time it's all up to you. Stay in to the end with the highest score and the gear is yours. With whatever options you want. Do you have what it takes? Try your hand and play to win! Computer Contest. Win a tricked out шсш with 2.0 Ghz Pentium 4, 512 meg. RAM, 100 Gig. HD, DVD, Windows XP, Nvidia card and more! Video Game Contest. Play on the hi-tech cutting Ms with this ions Microsoft XBox, Nintendo Gamecube and Sony Playstation 2! Get all three or trade the ones you don't want for CASH! Bonus options include: 33" monitor, $1,000 in games you choose, Gameboy Advance, cash, accessories and more! WORD LIST and LETTER CODE chart PINCH .....W PRESS K BLAST BREAK ......Z PUNCH.....S SPRAY R PRESS. H SLANT. MYSTERY WORD CLUE: WORLD RULERS HAVE IT AND IN THIS CONTEST YOU HAVE IT | The Ultimate over $20,000 n prizes: g Rig! Rattlebrain "We Make You Think..." EL E 5 Media Rig Contest. The Ultimate Gaming Environment, 60 inch HDTV monitor, 130 watt receiver w/ Dolby Digital, DVD and all components shown. Win DSS Satellite Receiver as a BONUS OPTION! This rig will blow you away!! We're talkin’ GAMING HEAVEN! Directions. Fill in the Mystery Word Grid with word going across that spell out the Mystery Word down the side. Hint: use the Mystery Word Clue. In the future. For each contest there will be four more puzzles at $2.00 each and one much tougher final at $1.00 which will be sent to you hy mail. You will have 3 weeks to solve each puzzle. We don't know how many will play but typically 55% will have the highest score possible score to Phase І, 43% to Phase Il, 36% to Phase Ill, and 32% to Phase IV. Highest score in the final determines the winner. If players are still tied they will split the value of the grand prize they are playing for. ENTER ME TODAY, HERE’S MY ENTRY FEE: C ($3.00) Video Game Contest C ($3.00) Media Rig Contest C ($3.00) Computer Contest C ($5.00) SPECIAL! Enter them all (SAVE $4.00) Age Yes! YN ANY апо Name Address State Zi City KE? SEND CASH, CHECK OR M.O. TO: RATTLEBRAIN, Р.О. BOX 9315 PORTLAND, OR 97207-9315 VOID WHERE PROHIBITED • ENTRY DEADLINE: POSTMARKED BY MAR. 29th, 2003 * ENTRY FEE MUST BE INCLUDED Only one entry per person. You must be under 30 years old to play. Suppliers of Rattlebrain, Inc. ineligible. Not responsible for lost or delayed mail. Judges decisions are final. Open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Winners determined no later than 6/30/03. You can request Winners List and Official Rules by writing: Rattlebrain Rules, 22123 Horizon Dr, West Linn, OR 97068- 8253. Merchandise names and models are trademarks of their respective companies who, along with this magazine, have no affiliation with this contest (And, if you've read all this, guess what, you have the personality type to win),©2002 Rattlebrain, Inc. Verifiable retail value of the rize packages as follows: Media Rig Contest package $7,012.00 core components shown, bonus options $3,449.00, cash options $1,250.00. Computer Contest package $2,500.00 for computer, bonus options $ 2,337.00, cash options $1,250.00. Video Game Contest $700.00 for systems shown, $3,549.00 bonus options, $1,250.00 cash options. REVIEWS MEDAL OF HONOR: SPEARHEAD SAY НОН?! CRAZINESS! irst things first: The opening scene in this game is superb. Jumping from a hectic transport plane into the serenity of a parachute fall while watching the world blow itself to hell below you is an experience not to be missed, At the same time, the level this scene is set in is the best in the game. The other stages are decent, but tend to be fairly pedestrian for the most part. This, coupled with the fact that the entire single-player portion is probably a whopping five hours long = at the most ~ should be reason enough to give you pause before slapping down $30. Another nagging problem is the obnoxious track level that wheedles its way into play about halfway through the title. With such a short life span, EA should be injecting more content and intrigue into what it has to work with rather than doing a boring point-and-shoot capsule that allows no room for player creativity. Spearhead does allow for a good amount of fun during its tried-and-true FPS scenarios, but the driving gimmicks and track segments should be saved for a tirne when there’s more room for variety. All in all, Allied Assault owners will enjoy Spearhead, but might want to wait until it drops in price before investing. - KRISTIAN THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN E Concept: Continue the assault in true Medal of Honor fashion ~ for four, maybe five hours. Then the game ends m Graphics: Still quite good, but they are beginning to look a little rough around the edges W Sound: The best in the business. You simply will not hear better ballistics audio anywhere m Playability: | liked the controls for Allied Assault, and nothing has changed п Entertainment: Short and sweet, but the game's brevity saps some of its strength ш Replay Value: Moderately High i was expecting a lot from this expansion, and Spearhead's | opening scene featuring a spectacular parachute drop into war-torn France doesn't disappoint. Sadly, this is the only time this expansion hits the same stride as the original. The level designs and objectives just aren’t as clever and the game itself is rather short, even for inexperienced FPS players. For thirty bucks, there are a lot worse ways to waste four or five hours, but it really makes you wonder if Spearhead is worth it. ARTS M DEVELOPER EA LA Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 118 GAME INFORMER сна ррн THE PLANES OF POWER A NEW HOPE fter the debacle that was the Shadows of Luclin launch and all the problems that it brought to the EverQuest userbase over the following year, it is nice to see Planes of Power so well executed on many levels. For the design team at Sony Online Entertainment, this launch was more than just ano! expansion, it was a challenge to see if it could find a new direction for the ailing EverQuest game design that was showing wear from years of overhauls. To get the game back in balance and bring back fun to both the large-scale guild encounters and experience grind, many of the classes were re-balanced so that tired player strategies wouldn't be the cornerstone of all combat. This gave the game designers an opportunity to take the game in a new direction that | find to be oddly console in feel. For example, to progress in the Planes of Power you must work your way through certain zones by defeating a boss or series of tests put before you. Success gives players a flag that enables them to advance to new zones or continue forward in a large-scale quest. Not only is progression given in a very linear, console style, but many of the boss encounters scream classic console RPG; with gods splitting into six mirror images leaving the players to try and attack the correct one, or bosses being invulnerable until other monsters are destroyed. In the end, this new approach is both a blessing and a curse. Since every player must get these flags, many guilds are forced to revisit old content to keep themselves outfitted for later encounters. However, compared to many individual key-type time sinks, this new approach enables a guild to key lots of people at the same time. This is most definitely a plus for guilds as a whole. Actually, if | had to sum up my review in one statement it would be just that: a plus for guilds. This is because a lot of the content doesn’t offer much for the solo player, other than the ability to raise the max level from 60 to 65 and unlock a number of new alternative advancement skills. Planes of Power is certainly a great addition to the EQ universe, but falls short of the Scars of Velious expansion, which is still the best in the series simply because it offered so much content. Planes of Power rides the razor's edge. If your guild is powerful enough to take it on full force, you can run this gauntlet and it will be your greatest EQ experience yet. However, if you let up, you will quickly be left behind and see that Planes of Power’s lack of diversity has left you with nothing. - ANDY Here is Grummus, but the Hamburgler was nowhere to be found W STYLE MASSIVELY MI IPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAME Iii PUBLISHER SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT Ш DEVELOPER SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT lil RELEASE OCTOBER 21 THE BOTTOM LINE m Concept: Keep expanding EQ until people stop playing W Graphics: It's the same old graphics engine, but better models and textures gives it a new shine W Sound: The MP3 audio is a nice addition, but the overall sound is still lackluster m Playability: Basically EQ requires you to ask for assistance to even begin to fathom all the things you can do m Entertainment: For long time EQ players, Planes of Power is a must, for others it's just a way to get to level 65 п Replay Value: High SECOND OPINION There's no denying that Planes | of Power is a big step forward | for EverQuest fanatics, but l | you'll need some pretty heavy | PC artillery to enjoy all of the | technological enhancements | Sony Online has included. Most | of the precious hour-stealing | additions have been geared | towards players who are level | 60 and higher. If you haven't | | spent most of your waking life | | leveling your character, | | chances are you're not going to | | be able to enjoy PoP's assorted | | realms as much as, say, Andy would. There are other notible | enhancements, however. The | updated character models make Planes of Power the most | graphically stunning addition yet, but there's no getting away from the fact that only a select few will enjoy all of it. This is an expansion for the | most devout of EQ addicts, the rest of us will nod dumbly as the dorks tell us, "No, | seriously! This rules!" KRISTIAN - 8 as a Trekkie, but | liked The Next Generation and hated Voyager as much as the next guy. As with Command's precursors, this fact made little to no difference in how much | enjoyed the game. The story was compelling not because | knew the intricate workings of the political climate between the Federation and the Klingons, but because it was well written, and expertly implemented. The three campaigns (Klingon, Romulan, and Federation) acted as sounding boards for different sides of the same story, and there was never a time when the plot suffered so there could be an equal number of missions for each campaign. Additionally, the ET RPGHike elements of starting with @= » the command of a small ship, then NI working your way up through the ranks and buying better ships and equipment with points gained through successful mission E completion are inspired. Sure, it's not groundbreakingly original, but it works, and that's what counts. On the other hand, there are some rather irritating bugs in this game. Some are graphical, and some are balance related, but those of you without an Internet connection will be cut off from the patch that will doubtlessly make its appearance rather soon. You'll also have to go without the wild multiplayer side of the game - a feature that is not to be missed. – KRISTIAN i don't by any means count myself Cubism at its worst It may be small, but it's got a lot of bite Say goodbye, you filthy Romulan W STYLE 1 TO 128-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER ACTIVISION Ш DEVELOPER TALDR E RELEASE NOVEMBER 6 THE BOTTOM LINE N m Concept: Enjoy a robust single and multiplayer Star Trek title with none of the guilt m Graphics: Great damage modeling, but there were some bugs and glitches that | could have done without B Sound: As with the other titles in this series, a lot of the audio from the shows and the films made its way into the game m Playability: The camera and controls are still rather clunky, but that's the nature of the beast W Entertainment: An excellent buy for both Trekkies and the PC faithful п Replay Value: High SECOND OPINION My first act as commander was, | "Warp seven to Kirk's Planet of | | Green Women!" This wasn't | possible, because Starfleet | Command Ill is now set in the | Next Generation universe. | Besides, this series excels at sinking your torpedo into | Klingons. 1 can't say enough | about how cool and easy the | interface was. At no time was | | scratching my Tribbles in | confusion. From landing marines | | to managing my firing arcs, it. | was a blast. This latter tactic. | was key in battle. | liked to | | perform the "ass shot,” where I'd | | swivel around and fire my rear- facing weapons. By the time 1 | completed my revolution, my forward armaments were ready | | to go. Best of all, recruiting new | | officers helps you optimize the — | | performance of your ship, as do. | the MechWarrioresque | | customizations of your craft. Now | | that my blood lust is satiated, | where are those alien women | with the phasers set to stun? KATO - { (pe REVIEWS MECHWARRIOR 4: MERCENARIES PAY ME echWarrior 4: Mercenaries is a near-perfect marriage between a furiously intense action title and a complex role- playing/simulation game. As a hired gun, Cyberlore has given you control of your own destiny. After allying yourself with one of three sponsors, you'll take on missions in the Inner Sphere and build up two lances (there are four mechs per lance) of hardened warriors while at the same time outfitting them with the best machinery your money can buy, Successfully completing missions Will give you contract money (you're not working for free!), as well as salvage from the smoldering hulks you left on the battlefield. From there, you can choose to use what your salvage team has gathered, or sell it off like the crap that it is. This play formula works seamlessly, and the open-ended story line provides for the kind of replay value you won't see in the multiplayer portion. | loved upgrading my mechs and watching my team kick ass in the field, but the Al is quite suspect at times, and the terrain looks decidedly dated. The mechs, on the other hand, have been molded with the attention г and precision of a master craftsman. The control is also good, but the menu systems . need an ergonomic overhaul. Who cares?! This game rules. Get it. Now. – KRISTIAN THE BOTTOM LINE TEEN J ш Concept: Walk softly and carry 50 tons worth of guns W Graphics: I wish the environment looked better, but the mech models are stupendous W Sound: Some of the radio chatter is cool, but the music (industrial rock) is not my cup of tea W Playability: Using a good joystick is almost required if you want. to have a rewarding play experience m Entertainment: This is one of the most impressive mech games released on the PC thus far W Replay Value: High | SECOND OPINION | A suitable follow-up to Vengeance | that does away with the epic Story line in favor of blowing the living daylights out of anything | that moves. With 40 new | missions, 19 multiplayer maps | (with two new game modes), and | | | | a brilliantly executed balance | between action and simulation, W STYLE | ТО 16-PLAYER ACTION @ PUBLISHER MICROSOFT E DEVELOPER CYBERLORE STUDIOS II RELEASE NOVEMBER 12 GAME INFORMER 119 wu "From begin- ning to end, Metroid Fusion is everything you could want from a Game Boy Advance game..." „апа old rivals all add up to the greatest Metroid adventure of all time 120 GAMEINFORMER TROID FUSION [ GAME BOY ADVANCE ] METRO FUSION. BEST. METROID. EVER. lain and simple, Metroid is the most kick-ass game of p all time, and Fusion for Game Boy Advance delivers everything a fan of the series could want, and a whole heck of a lot more. Check this out. Upon returning to SR388, Samus becomes infected with an unidentified life form known as X that consumes her Power Suit and leaves her on the brink of death. In an ironic twist, a cell from a Metroid is used to create a vaccine that saves her life. But Samus is changed forever, as she and the life form become one when the vaccine fuses the mutant genes with her Power Suit. Now immune to the deadly virus, she is the only thing that can stop it from taking over the galaxy. The hunted is now the hunter. | can't reveal the plot twists that take place, but | can tell you it's the most gripping tale to date, and will surely blow your mind. This is only fitting, since the rest of the game is so perfectly Metroid in every classic sense, that the game needed a story that matched its powerhouse gameplay. Not only are all the classic elements of the previous install- ments here in their glory, many new moves and innovations take the series to a higher level. Samus now has the ability to hang from ledges, which makes the secrets more difficult to uncover, and the play control is much smoother. For example, THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE 1 m Concept: Explore, evolve, and eradicate m Graphics: Easily the best looking 2D Metroid yet m Sound: Plenty of classic tracks with some new ones added for good measure W Playability: The play control is so tight, it's almost like second you can jump up and hang from a ledge then flip right into a ball Я nature to fit into tight passages. A handy maneuver, to say the least. Also, a new navigation room has been added to keep the player focused on individual goals and enable more story elements to unfold. At first, this new component bothered me, as it makes the quest rather linear at the beginning. However, as the game unfolds, this addition allows the devel- opers to challenge the player with more difficult puzzles later in the game. From beginning to end, Metroid Fusion is everything you could want from a Game Boy Advance title — high-powered original content that surpasses the old 8- bit and 16-bit games that they are derived from. Nintendo put the original team on this product and their care and technique shows, as Metroid Fusion is truly one of the greats. Long live Samus! - ANDY п Entertainment: If you love Metroid, this is an absolute feast п Replay Value: Moderately High | SECOND OPINION With razor-sharp gameplay, unanticipated plot twists, open-ended exploration, and stunning visuals, Metroid Fusion rekindles the grandeur of Samus | Aran's side-scrolling exploits | | and elevates the series to a | towering new level. Not only is is a suitable follow-up to the | | Super Nintendo classic, it steers | the series in a new direction as W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE Ш PUBLISHER NINTENDO Ш DEVELOPER NINTENDO Ш RELEASE NOVEMBER 18 "t 4 ihe This time around Samus is armed with Ice and Diffusion missiles it reinvents our beloved hero for | the next generation of gaming. | The surprising developments | in the story directly affect | the gameplay, producing an | | Interesting variation on the play | | mechanics that gives the game unique, yet familiar feel. Of course, you'll still find yourself flipping through caverns, bomb- | | ing through walls, and freezing | enemies, But as you'll see, all | is not as you would expect. I'm. | sure you'll agree that Fusion is the most desirable Game Boy | Advance game on the market, | one of the top 10 games of the | year, and the best Metroid title | to date. | REINER - 10 umen pr à OK if that's Samus, then who in the heck is the other guy? GAME BOY ADVANCE CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED WALKING THE SAFE ROAD rash's latest foray into the handheld arena holds tight to the tried and true. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but certainly doesn't pummel into new ground, as we're used to the old Bandicoot doing. While busying himself saving the world (again), our fearless hero must break boxes and collect crystals and spin away enemies and...well, it's all been done before. Crash, though, does do it through some really imaginative levels. Cruising on SECOND OPINION | used to be on the big screen, | The Crash series isn't what it i | | but it is carving out a niche | as one of the best handheld | | platformers out there. Sharp | | gaphics (dig the cool water i | effects), solid control, and a lot | of gameplay variety puts this | one up into the leagues of the foot is a staple, but he also chills on a magic carpet, gets towed | Pint-sized elite. behind a boat, and moves via other crazy means. Having no discernable plot holding the locations together _MATT-8 | | | | allows for certain freedoms and the ability to use the GBA for all it's worth. Credit must be given for the sheer use of colors and details, while keeping it clean and visible on the teeny GBA screen. The important thing is that Crash's latest romp is fun, but does not reinvent the wheel. However, dependability does have something going for it — and this is a thoroughly dependable title. - LISA Ш STYLE 1 OR 2-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM Ш PUBLISHER UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE E DEVELOPER VICARIOUS VISIONS Ш RELEASE JANUARY 7 GAME BOY ADVANCE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: HE-MAN - POWER OF GRAYSKULL FISTO MY SNOUT SPOUT hen | think Masters of the Universe, | think of the old cartoon. He-Man, Ram Man, and Mekaneck battled Clawful, Whiplash, and Kobra Khan (who had a squirt bottle for a head) in a half-hour toy commercial that | got me to beg my mom for every product it showed. | hope that when the kids of today grow up, they won't associate Masters ofthe Universe with this crappy cartridge. This game is flatter than He-Man's squishy, rubber head. The levels are lazily crafted, isometric mazes. Instead of nonstop tussling with bad mofos like Trap Jaw and Beast Man, the so- called “master of the universe" SECOND OPINION | Wow. If didn’t know better I'd | | say that TDK is involved in some | unholy alliance with Skeletor | to ruin He-Man's good name once and for all. If you're a fan terribly executed, amateurish | hack n' slash action, put this on the top of your Christmas list. MATT -3| spends most of his time battling spiders and birds. The lay of the land is such that, if He-Man steps out of bounds onto a puddle or sand dune, he dies. My hero! Power of Grayskull could've easily been adequate, if it took the Double Dragon, side-scrolling approach. Instead, it's ugly and boring. The cartoon made me want to play with the toys. The £ame will likely make kids do their homework, clean their rooms, or go to sleep — anything to avoid having to play it again. – JUSTIN W STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION Ш PUBLISHER TDK Ш DEVELOPER TANIKO E RELEASE OCTOBER 30 THE BOTTOM LINE m Concept: Once again, Crash needs to save a visually eclectic world m Graphics: While not quite at the pinnacle of graphical prowess, it has a unique and detailed look W Sound: By far, the least imaginative part of this adventure W Playability: Features easy and consistent control m Entertainment: A good script and nice level designs make Crash balanced fun W Replay Value: Moderate m Concept: TDK continues to gobble up licenses, amazed that nobody else picked them up W Graphics: Those blurry blobs kind of look like He-Man and friends — if you squint really hard m Sound: Is Eternia the drum- and-bass capital of the universe? It would appear so m Playability: Four buttons, four actions: slash, jump, block, run W Entertainment: No matter how much you like He-Man and want to see the figures in дате form, it's just not worth it и Replay Value: Low REVIEWS euer uy „ж _©АМЕ BOY ADVANCE THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST THE MISSED LINK || have fond memories of this THE BOTTOM LINE game back on the SNES. EVERYONE Keeping the Nintendo { port streak alive, A Link to the Past is an extremely accurate representation of a quality title, and is a musthave for Game Boy Advance. This title is the definition of perfect pacing. The large map. unfolds bit by bit, as you pick up various items and abilities to further exploration. The quest itself is lengthy and enter- taining, with great dungeons and plenty of puzzles. The extras are even better, as you dig holes for rupees, bash into trees, and hurl chickens. It puts most paper-thin GBA games to shame. A few things do cross my mind as | guide young Link around. First off, story lines have come a long way since 1992. | really couldn't care about boring orbs, maidens, or any of that junk. | just want to play the game. The graphics, while accurate to the 16bit cart, are a bit bland and outdated now – even on GBA. | n't play this for the graphics en, and | don't now, so that's not a huge deal. Four Swords, the included multiplayer game, is a neat little variation to the familiar — | Fee cai M DAS Ir Zelda theme. However, finding | for four.player action, or connect | three more friends, each with a this version to the GC game for copy of the game, is a daunting increased functionality. With so ќаѕк. Оуегаїї, А Шпк їо ће Раѕі much to offer, A Link to the Past holds its own as an amazing юше ош action/RPG with mass appeal i CHET - 9.5 and long-term enjoyment. - JUSTIN Ш STYLE 1 ТО 4-PLAYER ACTION/RPG Iii PUBLISHER NINTENDO IM DEVELOPER NINTENDO/CAPCOM B RELEASE OCTOBER 31 GAMEINFORMER 121 m Concept: One of the best action/ RPGs in video games, delivered on a platter to GBA owners W Graphics: They represent the SNES version well, but are a little sub-par for GBA W Sound: Some new speech, reminiscent of the N64 Zelda. Great music W Playability: You would think the game was originally designed for GBA. Great control and button layout W Entertainment: This is one of the greats, and it is still amazing today. If you can find enough people to play Four Swords, you'll be rewarded W Replay Value: Moderately High SECOND OPINION | Surprisingly, this is nearly identi- | cal to the SNES version in every | | way. Great graphics, sound, music, and stellar gameplay | are just a few of the aspects KIRBY: - NIGHTMARE IN DREAMLAND SUCK IT IN THE BOTTOM LINE EVERYONE eally, who can say R that a little, pink, marshmallow-looking fellow isn’t just the epic hero America has been hungering for? | certainly can’t, because Kirby is a pudgy, floating ball of fun. Starting with everything that's right in Kirby just might quickly take me over my space limit, but | have to gush about the scads of abilities the little dumpling can absorb from inhaled ENEMIES: Е d No noticeable difference in Fire, Ice, Sword, and Super the soundtrack between Jump; just about anything levels they can do, you can do E better-evenbossabilties. т UNE solid. Tiny. Then there are the platforming done right graphics, which lend themselves to Kirby's quirky world with sharp color: detailed backgrounds, nice special effects, and the п Replay Value: standard-setting character High animations. Kirby squishes, inflates, and swashbuckles [ with ease through levels that | SECOND OPINION | don't revolutionize the world I've been waiting for a Kirby of platform gaming — but | resurgence, and this is what 1 which are more than good | wanted from a GBA game with enough at encouraging | Шаны ошый, exploration and minimizing neges original, with better cheap deaths. graphics and more cool My point is this: Kirby | powers. Like all Kirby games, good. Me like. You buy. All it’s a little easy, but the fun is happy. – LISA in exploring to find everything in every level. JUSTIN - 8.5 | ш Concept: Pink balloontype fellow saves the day їп Dreamland while absorbing the powers of enemies m Graphics: Quirky but colo detailed. Kirby": are excellent W Sound: W Entertainment: With plenty of skills to grab. and a decent variety within. levels, Kirby is fun for hours M STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM PUBLISHER NINTENDO IM DEVELOPER HAL LABORATORY W RELEASE DECEMBER 12 122 GAME INFORMER GAME BOY ADVANCE QUICKIES TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 4 Ш STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION E PUBLISHER ACTIVISION E RELEASE OCTOBER 24 d Like its big brothers, the handheld version of Tony 4 now has the ability to perform a Spine transfer, but other than that and some new areas, this feels a lot like THPS 3 to me. Nevertheless, it's another fine translation to GBA featuring precise control, lots of challenges, and impressive graphics and tunes. Unfortunately, the game's biggest weakness remains the isometric perspective. Although you get used to it, the numerous blind spots are highly annoying. - CHET [e] 8 WACKY STACKERS W STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER PUZZLE E PUBLISHER CONSPIRACY E RELEASE OCTOBER 20 3j This is pretty much a Status quo Puyo Puyo- style puzzle game featuring a license (Tiny Toons) that ran its course a decade ago. 4| The only aspect of this AEE game that stands out is the special attacks. These allow you to either manipulate your opponent's board, or clear your board of pieces. If you seriously still enjoy the cartoon, or just love puzzle titles, 1 recommend checking out Wacky Stackers. Otherwise, stick with ZooCube. - CHET а 6.5 ROCKY W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER SPORTS E PUBLISHER UBI SOFT W RELEASE NOVEMBER 14 | didn't think a side- scrolling boxing game would work in this day and age, but Rocky comes through as a М solid, if unspectacular, } GBA title. Strategy is ФМУ definitely necessary, and you'll enjoy the battles once you hone your skills. Unfortunately, the ring length is goofy and the uppercut is utterly useless. The cutscenes are truly phenomenal. 1 won't say they're photo quality, but they're damn close, &iven the technology. This may be the best boxing game on GBA, but it's still not too impressive [e] 7.5 overall. — JUSTIN TOMB RAIDER: THE PROPHECY W STYLE | -PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE W PUBLISHER UBI SOFT W RELEASE NOVEMBER 11 Е pute Lo SA Айлы A ~ 4. these days, but this title quickly wears out its welcome. Yes, Prophecy's brand of adventuring is done well here, but the problem is that it’s still the same boring stuff. | love that the levels are huge, have some detail, and that Lara has some moves. But, when you're pulling switches, backtracking, and participating in boring combat through these large areas, you tire quickly. Lara's funbags have deflated and withered long ago. - KATO ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA W STYLE | TO 3-PLAYER SHOOTER W PUBLISHER TDK MEDIACTIVE W RELEASE OCTOBER 16 | hate to say it, but | wonder if this is the game that should have graced the big consoles instead of Robotech: Battlecry. It's got wicked shooter action and, like its big brother, ‘Macross absolutely demands that you use all three of your Veritech's forms. While | wouldn't necessarily say it's better than Battlecry, this дате has an advantage: You can play as several Macross characters, including Ben Dixon and Max Sterling. The only downside is there is the occasional slowdown. Saga’s difficulty and old-school shooter spirit make it a must-have trapped in a Game Boy Advance body. - KATO а 8.5 MONSTER RANCHER ADVANCE 2 W STYLE | OR 2-PLAYER STRATEGY/FIGHTING E PUBLISHER TECMO E RELEASE NOVEMBER 4 ES Following the Winer | same tried-and- ; true formula that worked so well for the first entry in the series, this new incarnation simply gives players more to mess around with. The changes that ‘have been implemented include a much deeper coaching system, which allows specific monsters to receive a more complex training regimen, and an interesting link option that lets players introduce their beloved monsters to their friends’ beasts. As always, Monster Rancher Advance 2 delivers infinite replay value and a sound investment for anyone who has a craving for an aggressive virtual pet. - REINER а 8.5 VIRTUA TENNIS E STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER SPORTS E PUBLISHER THG/SEGA W RELEASE OCTOBER 8 HE PAA Another great З0 65 entry for the handheld tennis crowd (all six of you!); Virtua Tennis has the same impressive and deep career mode featured in ЕХ Virtua Tennis 2 for the Dreamcast. Basically, you'll take both a female and male pro up through the ranks, competing in tournaments and using skill-building minigames like Disc Shooter and Burger Chef to boost your attributes. Heck, it even features a few new games that weren't in VT 2 (or Tennis 2K2, as it was called on PS2). My only complaint is that the shoulder buttons (which lent a &reat deal of depth to WTA Tour Tennis) aren't utilized in the single-player game, which means no т drop shot. - MATT Order by Phone (8am - 9pm CST) 7 Days a Week vp Preowned PlayStation 2 (6 2 ) New PlayStation 2 srt coe; and controller |` with ЕШ FREE Grand Theft уч Playstation 2 mm Pack 88 Includes: - PS2 DVD Remote - PS2 Memory Card 2-Pack and 2 FREE Extension Cables includes Final Fantasy Chronicles a Preowned PS One ® Preowned Playstation and Controller J 97 including controller * | | With FREE — ee = New Memory card! а eft A Order by Phone (8am - 9pm CST) ; - 7 Days а Week Order online at: 1-800-865-3310 UR www.gameintormer.com т) Animal Crossing Pack SP) GameCube — E | Exclusive Offers For ФС GAMEINFORMER Readers Includes: п -GCC t il Includes: - Memory Card 251 - Animal Crossing Game - 2 FREE Extension Cables - GBA E-Read . | m Price: Only $44.98! 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Not responsible for misprints or typos. In association with the NPD TRSTS Video Games Service, Charts presents an in-depth listing of the best- selling software on a month-to-month basis. Are the games you spend your hard-earned dollars on top Sellers? Take a look below to find out. We've also compiled a listing of the top-selling Japanese software, and, of course, we included a Top 10 list of the games the Gl staff is currently enjoying. POS. L. MO GAME SYSTEM N/A Dragon Quest: Torneko's Big Adventure 3 PS2 N/A From TV Animation ONE PIECE: Treasure Battle GC N/A Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland GBA М PD TO р 2 о раа Fer October N/A Final Fantasy II PSX à EE Final Fantasy PSX RANK L. MO GAME SYSTEM SCORE RELEASE PRICE N/A Ultraman: Fighting Evolution 2 Р52 DATE POINT s 1 N/A Grand Theft Auto: Vice City PS2 — 10 0002 $48 NA х N/A Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 GBA N/A Medal of Honor: Frontline PS2 Simple Character 2000 Series Vol. 13 PS-X «[o|-[ojo|5|o|t|m z KS > f To honor the eighties resurgence that Vice City has spawned, we all grew fat, feathery mul- Æ lets, and bought Air Supply t-shirts. Instead of it earning us a handful of hot babe action, it j only got us an eyeful of Security Plus brand pepper spray. One tiny shot rates an impressive two million on the Scoville Heat Units scale! It's thug tested, woman approved. 2 N/A NBA Live 2003 PS2 875 Oct-02 $50 EA Sports’ b-ball franchise is totally redone, with a new engine and faster gameplay. This thing hauls! Unless, of course, you play as Rockets rookie Yao Ming. The guy's T'6", 300 Ibs. of lean, mean, three-toed sloth. He's so slow, it takes him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes. We're joking. He could crush us like matchsticks. Please don’t tell him. о = У > 3 2 Kingdom Hearts PS2 9.5 Sep02 $50 Donald and Goofy are freaking out about Mickey's disappearance, but Sora just wants to POS. GAME SYSTEM get his make-out on with Kairi. Who can blame him? Sora's a red-blooded young man, 1 МА Metroid Fusion GBA after all. Of course, if we were him, we would've stopped in Atlantis a little longer to lock 2 1 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City PS2 gills with Little Mermaid's Ariel. We're willing to bet that fish don't stink. 3 N/A Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance PS2 4 1 Madden NFL 2003 PS2 9.5 Aug02 $50 4 N/A Metroid Prime GC To quote the great Hank Williams, Jr., ^Are you ready for some football?" Take our advice: Ee Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 PS2 Don't step on the field without protecting the boys. Wear a cup. You're a good-looking young- 6 N/A Age of Mythology PC Î ster with a long life ahead of you. It'd be a shame to damage that all over one horrific shot e 2 Animal Crossing GC 1 "down there." Don't believe us? We got two words for ya: Mike Tyson. 8 МА ATV Offroad Fury 2 PS2 5 N/A Hitman 2: Silent Assasin PS2 8.5 Sep-02 $50 9 7 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers PS2 Agent 47 is back, but this time, he's a new man. Gone are the contract killing days of old. That is, until your clergyman mentor gets hijacked. Then, you get to bust caps all over » the place. Game Informer does not advocate the use of pistols or other firearms, howev- er. We recommend using the dental floss-type weapon and choking those mofos out for mm good! Bam! 6 N/A Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Dualist Soul GBA N/A Oct-02 $28 Need Оп Month Units Soki, бшсе: НЕО ase Eitrtdnmenk 7 N/A Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 PS2 9.25 Oct-02 $50 POS. L. MO GAME MONTH PRICE 8 N/A The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers PS2 9.25 Oct-02 — $50 1 1 TheSims:Uniesshed SepO2 $29 9 МА Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 PS2 8.75 SepO2 $50 2 N/A EverQuestiiThe Planes o Poweriidik OctO2 8528 3 N/A RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Oct-02 $26 102 5 Пеккепа e 9 Sep02 — $50 4 6 Те Sims Deluxe SepO2 $41 11 14 Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island GBA 8.75 Sep-02 $29 5 д Unreal Tournament 2003 Sep-02 $44 12 N/A Hitman 2: Silent Assasin Xbox 85 Sep-02 $51 6 N/A Spongebob Squarepants: Operation Krabby Рабу Sep-O1 $17 13 N/A МВА 2K3 BS2 9.25 Oct-02 $50 7 8 _ RollerCoaster Tycoon May99 $16 14 N/A Mario Party 4 GC 3 Oct-02 $50 oe 3 Warcraft Ill: Reign of Chaos Jun02 $51 15 10 YuGiOh! Forbidden Memories PSX 55 Mar02 $29 ег шоа Eua Ый 10 N/A Hitman 2: Silent Assasin Sep02 $47 16 7 Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories GBC 5.5 Mar-02 $29 17 N/A NHL 2003 PS2 7.75 Sep-02 $50 18 6 Star Fox Adventures GC 8.75 Sep-02 $50 19 N/A Red Faction Il PS2 8.75 Oct-02 $50 20 N/A TimeSplitters 2 PS2 8.25 Oct-02 $49 Source: NPD Interactive Entertainment Service Kristin Barnett-Von-Korff (516) 625-2481 GAMEINFORMER 127 REVIEWS ARCHIVE JANUARY 2003 MADDEN NFL 2003 All-Star Baseball 2003 з Apr02 ToeJam & Earl Il: Antz Extreme Racing 55 Deco2 Mission to Earth Novoa CMe Alen Wars EX 675 Dec02 Ш FORMAT PLAYSTATION 2 Ш STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER pen -l SPORTS American Pro Truck Baldur's Gate: с б (CNUNE CAPABLES, M PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS «Апека Роты 6 ыр Balla Gale ракат 85 Mo рш: 0 0002 The Hugo ate REVIEWED SEP-02 Aggressive Inline 87 В E = Тив Huge Aventure 85 A 75 Sep-02 lade II 6 Nov02 Totaled! ? ЫЯ 5 Apae : Al-Star Baseball 2003 ә? Aoz Bline: Time Sweeper 775 Nov-o2 Triple Play 2002 А pers burner 45 Maro? Wannabe GMs like myself will — 5735579 95 0002 Bood Omen 2 825 May-02 Turok: Evolution 75 050 Dave Mira Freese BMX 2 эз Mario : В 90 A * асі Т a. lar- delight in participating in the Big Air Freese A c Ee IE M зы EE Tc ade ME : T 3 : far-02 linotopia: new dynamics of draft day. sedare, 5; 7 Dec-02 Quest of the Dragon 1 Sep-02 Whacked 2 Deco? Te тезле Pirates 6 — Jun-02 Don't even get me startedon вотот Generato û душ mee 0 00 шамы 1 dio Deko: Morte $ м iE. E а Jun- ries Baset 8 l Jokapon: М H how fun it is to make your own pes = 7375 Jun-02 Ше Hollywood Stunt Driver 7 Oct-02 Wreckless; The Yakuza Missions 7 ioe Deom auis 5 [оул a н b 5 Deci plays. Gang tackles (the best Cel Damage n ? Mar 3 Coin Monae! Faly 3 sis beste m vo Re Legacy. O! Gok 75 r $ } А ош 5 Mays among this year’s football cee 75 Novog Commandos 2: pie оле Us None акеп е T len of Courage 6 1 inde £ames) and other cool new Dark Summit 805 00 бош Deseni Stom 6 ovoz Ae Wonders IE Duko Nukem Авала 8$ Od animations are there for those who take just a cursory look at 00" 00%: Goin Quackers т Juno е Wi of Co m Кышы E НЕ egg atin dE o PN E VENTA d | ania ortex 25 May- i : г ү game, but that won't do this title justice. That being said, киз exraime 2002 725 ш CAT 3 Hoh foler 85 r^ eri B oeo брен ооо > : { н z itz: : adden 2003's leap may not be as dramatic as Sega's, but “Siriy peen Dave Ведат Soccer 85 А2 әдибин Мову 725 5900 oily Geary Anane Ediion 8> Age this game is no fumble by EA by any stretch of Eu Vols T ime Owe DE ттт ЖЕ Hest Mapes 5 А002 EREY T v а ч á х lack & White: Cı leat Major the imagination — even if its online approach is тоа B Dacoo уну Marisa is 00 BEL Create lle 925 Maroz Teague basebal 2008 725 рар very basic. – КАТО Feia Te Е Sete Era ЕР lorrowind, The is me Gavi Kings: Rage of War 7 Nov02 ptm 6 мау-02 Я ^ 5 i * che 4 65 Mar 3 PLAYSTATIONZ- ЕЕН Godzilla: ESPN Intemational dic 102 Мал Advent YSTATION 2 NASCAR: Ditto Daytona 875 Му Destroy Al Monsters Melee 8 Novog Winter Sports 2002 & Мей ^ СОВА Comi Lido eR о Aggressive Inline 925 Jugg NASCAR Thunder 2003 9° Otoz Home Run King 5 ESPN NFL PrimeTime 2002 6 — Mar es 825 Ap-02 Fellowship of the Rit May-02 Mar02 Cultures 2: G: ip of the Ring, The 5 — Dec02 AiBlade 8 maroz МВАЖ? 875 Мий? James Bond 007 In.. ESPN Winter X Games Gules 2: Gates of Asgard 775 No02 Меда Man Batle Nework2 875 June All-Star Baseball 2003 9 Apron NBA2K3 925 Novoa Agent Under Fire 325 Mayoz Snowboarding 2002 ius pm Arnot ВА МЕО, 76: MAS Mega Man Zero 825 Augo Armored Core 3 8 Sepo2 NBA Live 2003 875 Novoa Knockout Kings 2003 75 Nowo2 Genma Onimusha 675 Mats Ој Marc: Nakatomi Plaza 6 May-02 — Mi Tyson Boring ier Amy Men: RTS 6 — May-02 МВА Shootout 2008 675 Novog Legends of Wrestling 7 Aug-o2 Ghost Recon ae spero | ee 775 Dec02 Monster Jam: Maie Barbarian 6 Augdg NBA Staring Five 625 Decoz Lost Kingdoms 8 002 Gun Metal Gic Po 925 Jun-02 “Maximum Destruction 6 Ap Base E Nono NOAAMarh Madness ако 475 Maroz Madden NFL 2003 825 Sepoz Gun Valkyrie $39 Marte) т asc й loodRayne 8 Nov-02 leed For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 8.75 Oct-02 Mario Pary 4 3 Deco2 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin 85 Deco? Blood Omen 2 8 — May-02 NFL 2K3 95 Sep02 Medal of Honor: Frontline. 875 Dec02 House of the Dead Ill, The 65 Моу-02 RESIDENT EVIL Britney's Dance Beat 775 Jul-02 NFL Blitz 2002 5 — Apr-02 Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena 5 Оес-02 Hunter: The Reckoning 8 м2 WFORMAT Burnout 2: Point of Impact 8 Мор NFL Bitz 2003 525 0402 MX Superty 7 Sepo2 James Bond 007 In... GAMECUBE Ш STYLE 1-PLAYER ACTION/ADVENTURE Contra: Shattered Solder 825 Оес02 МЕ. GameDay 2003 75 Sepüo Mystic Heroes 775 Onog Адет Under Fire 55 mayoz I PUBLISHER CAPCOM ш REVIEWED JUN-02 DDR Max 75 Decoz NHL2008 775 Nov02 NASCAR Thunder 2003 9 оао Jj Set Radio Future 7 — Mar-02 Defender 175 Novog NHL Hitz 2003 a7 Мыр NBA2K2 3 10900 Kely Salers Pro Swrler 85 Ос? When a zombie latches onto Deus Ex: The Conspiracy 9 Mayo? Onimusha 2: NBA Courtside 2002 825 Май Knockout Kings 2002 875 Apr-02 if Y Oro Saker 725 omo балай Dey 875 Sepo2 NBA Street 925 May.02 Legends of Wresting 7 А02 you, if you have a specific isney Golf 775 0002 'ac-Man Fever 75 Aug02 Need For Speed: Madden NFL 2003 95 02 weapon i i Downforce 7 — Ju02 Pac-Man World 2 55 Marca Hot Pusul 2 75 Nov-02 Mechassault 8.75 bento роону (Such Or. Muto 778 Dec-02 m The Legend NFL 2K3 9 Sepoo Medal of Honor: Frontine 875 Dec-2 85 а grenade or dagger), you'll Dropship: Und Peace осе 75 Аш ONE 15. Medo нна 875 Novog Monopoly Pary 4 — Dec-02 jb it into them, thus freeing ? " A Ў базу Tactics 8 we idi cU А Pac-Man Fever e M NASCAR Thunder 2003 ` коо yourself. The character control cco the Dolphin: ions 8 — Dec-02 Pac-Man World 2 4 МВА 2K2 is stil i Defender of the Future 55 муш Ratchet & Clank 875 Dec02 Rayman Arena о s NBA 2Night 2002 62 Же а е ara Ear n 85 ide aman mna 65 Мо Resident Evi 27, 0902 NBAlnside Dive 2002 825 Aro? poo ll 180 degree quick turn has EOE: Eva of ылы вв д2 Pecan 2008 6. Marsh тше 825 Decoz NBA Inside De 2000 75 Nov.02 n added. However, there is no solution to the awkward ; : 1 or 1 it 4 iti i 5 Winter Sports 2002 7 Marog Reign of Fire 625 Dec02 Scorpion kng: ld 85 08002 New eben SPEM 5 jut E SP OE that blinds your perspective. You may hear em nah ght 2002 1b dade Bons Ateni Drive 215: Dono Jie o te Aan, те a ош МЖ 925 we; Something down a hall, but you won't know what it is until it simpsons Road Rage NFL 2K3 p ‚тома 2002 т wane Tree gon V 7 ею Smashing Dive 2 Weis NEL Bitz 2002 $5 wo Rua N E Ae сущ Быны. 5 pei e Hell в Nwo Smugglers Run: Warnes 775 Sepa NFL Fever 208 7 sec Years ago, | jumped out of my seat more times than I care to 1 Slam 78 r4 ^ ji i ien ES Chall т. oW savage Stee Adventure 9 — Deco? Sonic Adventure 2 Battle 75 haa NHL 2K3 ss bis " admit. The suspense is far greater. The gore a à : k : К | : A Fora 89 шаце 7 Mu PS 85 Ж} Sonic Mega Colecion 875 Decoz NHL Hiz 2003 875 novog More defined. Resident Evil is well worth Freekstyle $$ шр Night of 100 Frights 65 Ао Spy Hunter i ae Pane 775 202 revisiting. - REINER h 4 5 May Я eae ae Legacy 775 Jun-02 Б-ы Man: 2econd Coming 7 Мау-02 Star Fox Adventures 875 Nov-02 The Legend of Black Kat 75 Jun-0g Elder 5:01: 11 Monster Ranch oan 5, Ма Shinobi 875 Ш Star Wars: The Cone Was 825 Deed? Prisoner of War 7 Novog Morrowind, The з de Mees раш (аг Jec- Super Mario Sunshine 975 Se Quantum Redshift 6 ў Emperor. dg eb-02 Gra Shox 1 02 Nov-02 pe Moral ا‎ етот. TET i В Nov02 о Scope 3 125 Моне Super Monkey Ball 2 735 одор RaliSpor Challenge 8 Apr-02 Rise of the Middle Kingdom 325 бер02 Mares Marice Mi HA yer Gravy Games Bke: 7 0902 Simpons Skateboarding UA MEE, QUE NUN TE Mr мон Биюш: buy вв novog feedom Force 875 May0? MotoGP i ic jr ime: lers 2 | toc Т lol rations il » an Dirt 2 See oe ped 65 Jul-02 Tony ps Pro Skater 4 a ро Segaf GT 2002 825 pas Grand p Aulo Ill as pns Күүн PANE T& uu Gungrave. z RRA pe сот m 7 Ap-02 Top Gun: Combat Zones. 675 Nov-02 580005 Sam 5 Deco Heroes of Might and Magic IV 875 Jun02 Peter Pan: 125 May-02 Heachunter RO Hci erator $25 Mago Т Elton 775 Мо фур Smashing Drive 65 May-o2 —_(cewind Dale Ii 95 0800 ешт To Never Land з M Herdy Gerdy 6 Арс Smash Court Tennis: Uns dos Soccer Slam 725 Sepon waia 925 Nov-02 Pinbal of the Dead, The A High Heat Major. Pro Tournament — 775 Ариф Theme Park Adventure 4 Maro? Spider-Man 825 Jungo Medieval Total War 925 00:02 Planei Monsters A iz 02 League Baseball 2003 75 Apro2 SOCOM: US Naw SEALs 95 Sep-02 water ee то Ee Ted 2 mew ами ры 976 AGO. Phrelol ihe Apes 65 е Hot Shots Golf 3 925 Apeo2 Spider-Man Ф 75 Nov-02 ру Hunter 775 Мау-02 ives Forever 2 Punch А Jel X20 75 2 Siar Wars: Jed Starightr e Lo . 65. A Star Wars: Jedi Outcast 0 eds ا‎ оне Puyo p $5 Mart? Jom Moseley Medis — 728 do Slr Wars: Racer Revenge 65 Apr Zapper. One wed Cricket 875 Пер SlarWars: Jedi байдаг 85 итд 0100088 Tyooon2 85 Deco? Rampage Puzzle Atack as Kelly Slaters Pro Surfer 7. 0002 State of Emergency oe Apr-02 —— Zoocube 875 Aug 02 Steel Battalion $5 Dep usen Rippin Trends: The W $ e Kingdom Hearts te 000 SUC ERE aon s Ate Street Hoops 55 бер02 The Second Encounter 925 Маг-02 Most Maniy mi ch lord's iê King's Field: The Ancient City 65 Apr-02 Street Hoops 55 ВАЕ ЕОНИ Теп: Dawn of Fate, me ¢ Осе Fon ус 829 Mee Robopon 2: Ring Version 7 p: Knockout Kings 2002 775 Аи Stuntman 325 ир 202 FIFA World Cup в d Test Dive 85 3002 Soldier of Fortune ll: Jno Rogue Spear 775 May-02 Legaia 2: Duel Saga 75 Octo? Suikoden Ill 95 Decog бее 925 бер02 ing, The 8.25 Nov02 Double Helix Salt Lake 2002 5 Аро Legend Астрасте 5 Mane Summoner 2 9 Nov-02 NRE 85 Dec02 Spring Break К Ne egion: The Super Bust-A-Move 2 75 D Star Trek Bri 7 Api Sweat Gels, The 5 Jn? Legend of Excalibur Т i: ес-02 tar Trek: Bridge Commander 7 Apr02 Sega Sr Lage Soccer Мала E pe NS BLINX: THE TIME SWEEPE КАРК dn ash Pack 7 Deu Lethal Skies a lo Tekens 7 Nor FORMAT XBOX ml STYLE -PLAYER ACTION "obe MER M озон 675 Febo Looney Tunes Space Race 7 Aug02 Tennis 2K2 925 es i E PUBLISHER MICROSOFT Ш REVI Sw уы к EE 85 Apr Lord ol he Rings The emat батага та 6 Qd ЖҮКӨ СҮ? Sm 28 ow em 85 dep 'ellowship of the Ring, The 3 — Dec-02 Test D d E R кч n 75 Nov-02 Spyro 2: Season of Flame 7.5 urn m. 2 S Diligent gamers wil have no Tapes teres дей omen 0 me : , А MA : Paradise Islan 5 Apr m Eid ке 925 ise Tee ns PGATour2002 775 Ах? problem offing Blinx in а day or ues Tournament $5 К Sian lhe Clones ШИТ Ка : 5 ws Tee pales Us M ps бю so. Even though Artoon threw ета Т Rem ш Chaos 95 Sep? Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles 625 Маг02 lark of Kri, The 9 — Aug-02 Top Angl à in a few secrets, th ^ larlor lattlecry II 775 May-02 Star X 675 Julo2 Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 85 Dec02 — 194798 T5. May-02 rets, they don't Street Fighter Alpha 3 М E * 95 x Ма Homans Pro BAK2 725 Sende Тын. к pa make the adventure any more CENENA Super Bust-A-Move an M ihr А S М Medal ol vien мА à e а Turok: Evolution. 75 Oct-02 compelling. The length, Meses hin b 0 e 78 фе | ез E есч E M Метт Васе Елар 75 б Mei ME BIS Mme however, is less to the Airforce Delta Storm 675 000 Super Maro Word T li son y Š: ái E 2 Heavyweight Boxing 675 4402 we ea 825 dude | elicit ABO gameplay's detriment than its реу me $ mu rete Oe — ee MLB Slugfest 200 $ tua Fighter 975 May-02 А icti ; н COMER EN WEIT — — E BEER "NE oie Sut Gundam: a omae Manes тъ ша | ying to complete each task with precision starts to lose it тола Pad Re Т Dep Tony Hawks ProSkar3s 9 pue: : lipeout Fusi , S ji Al " if : б i # po^ bes 65 5 Word Rally Championship 28 nt Eri Smp pur We basic pattern of Killing everything while вете Pone 78 мо WT Ton NE e Montis ine 5 put Wreckless 15 es executing a few cool time warps gets old. If you can accept СЕТА в Aug-02 и x в ete ord ма 7 Apro2 ыды P 5 Ao Blinx for what it is — and isn't — you might just Breath of Fire I 875 poa Yoshi’ Island: Myst IE Exe 725 AUO Shut Your Mouth з m; find that it offers an enjoyable, and slightly ce a de ameme O 875 МНЕ X-Men Next Dimension ^ 775 Deco? addictive gaming experience. — CHET Harmony ol Dissonance 95 OMM ye Ma i. ио cube 85 402 128 GAME INFORMER INFORM MAGAZINE Г2 Yes! | want to take advantage of this amazing offer from Game Informer Magazine! 1 Year (12 Issues) for $19.98 0 2 Years (24 Issues) for $24.98 C GameStop Value Card for $2.00 Please Print Clearly in Block Letters Name Address City/State/Zip Phone Select Payment Method: .] Check or money order enclosed. [.] Bill my Credit Card Credit Card # Exp. Date To order with Credit Card by phone call (612) 4866100 M - F ат to Арт Central Time. All International & Canadian orders must add $20/yr. additional postage. Please allow up to 8 weeks for first mailed issue. 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Without a monthly fix of Game Informer, you start to get cold sweats, your hands start shaking, and you hallucinate that bugs are crawling under your skin. So why suffer? Don't Delay! Fill ovt the attached card. Release Title Publisher/ Date Distributor PLAYSTATION 2 hack ... Air Force Delta 3 Auto Modellista . Batman: Dark Tomorrow . . Bandai . Konami . Capcom . Kemco Battle Engine Aquila «Infogrames BattleBots . . . .THQ Black & Bruised . . Majesco Bomberman Kart . Konami Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter . Capcom Cabela's Off Road Adventure . + Acclaim Chessmaster .......... UbiSoft Chop Lifter: Search and Rescue . . Capcom City Racer....... « Ubi Soft. Colin McRae Rally 3 . Infogrames Dark Cloud 2... Devil May Cry 2 . E FORMAT PLAYSTATION 2, XBOX, GAMECUBE lil STYLE 1 TO 4-PLAYER ACTION/PLATFORM Ш PUBLISHER ACCLAIM Ш RELEASE FEBRUARY 11 Technically, Vexx is an action/platform game at heart, but it's kind of the bad seed in the group - the kid in school who would cut class to have a cigarette in the bathroom. The nature of the game is dark and violent. The gameplay further separates Vexx from the normality of the action/platform genre. Jumping from ledge to ledge is an integral part of the game, but it’s executed with a lightning-quick vigilance. Vexx can soar into the air, flip up into double jump, and then kick over and rise upward into a triple jump. .. Disaster Report . Dragon's Lair 3D Duke Nukem . Dynasty Warriors . Agetec : Encore Software Xtreme Legends Dynasty Warriors 4... . Koei Elder Scrolls Adventures . . Bethesda Softworks Everblue 2......... . Capcom EverQuest Online Adventures . . Sony Online Falcone: Into the Maelstrome . . Titus Fear Effect 3....... .Eidos Fisherman's Challenge . Konami Freaky Flyers . . Midway Frogger Beyond. „ Konami Getaway, The . Gladius . . Sony . LucasArts Gunfighter teturn of Jesse James . . Ubi Soft High Heat Baseball 2004 ....... . 300 Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb . . LucasArts Jane's Air Force . . Capcom Jeopardy . ... . Infogrames Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure . . Capcom Jungle Book: Rhythm N Groove «Ubi Soft Kengo 2 . „Ubi Soft Mafia . «Take 2 Malice. «Vivendi Universal Micromachines . . Infogrames Midnight Club Il . -Take 2 MotoGP 3 . Namco Moto-X ‚ Konami My Street . Sony NBA Ballers . . Midway Pride FC . . HQ Primal . . Sony PTO4. . Koei Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc „Ubi Soft Red Dead Revolver .... . Capcom Return to Castle Wolfenstein . . Acclaim Risk .. . Infogrames Robocop . . Titus RIX Red Rock . LucasArts ‚. Seek and Destroy . SVG Shaun Murray's Pro Wakeboarder «Acclaim Sims, The . . Smash Cars. „ Electronic Arts Tankers. . -Titus Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven . Activision Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Raven . Ubi Soft Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . . . . Ubi Soft Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears «Ubi Soft Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness . . Eidos Toon Shade Racing . . Capcom Wege doc ong „Acclaim War of the Monsters . . Sony Wheel of Fortune . . Infogrames World Tour Soccer 2003 . . Sony Xenosaga . Namco XI. . Ubi Soft Yu-Gi-Oh! The of the Roses . . Konami Zone ofthe Enders: 2nd Runner. . Konami PLAYSTATION 2/18/03. . . Big Strike Bowling. 2/17/03... Black & White 2/4/03. . . . Bratz 2/3/03. . . . Army Men: Air Combat . . 3/3/03. . . . Army Меп: Sarge's War 3/4/03. . . . Batman: Dark Tomorrow . 2/4/03. . . . BattleBots......... СА CALL YO Publisher/ Distributor . Majesco . Ubi Soft „Таке 2 . 300 ‚ Konami . Encore Software . Vivendi Universal . Konami „ Midway . LucasArts - Midway ‚300 .THQ „ Nintendo ‚ Infogrames „ Midway . Sega ‚ Acclaim . Ubi Soft . Capcom . Capcom ; Infogrames ‚ LucasArts OU К L Release Date 1/28/03. 3/18/03. Black & Bruised . City Racer . Conflict: Desert Storm. 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Sometimes, Ryu resembles a firearm-less Dante from Devil May Cry, with plenty of air juggles. Other times, he's more like the one-on-one fighting game star he portrays in DOA 3. 1/14/03. . . Panzer Dragoon Orta. Sega 2/18/03. . . Pro Race Driver ... Infogrames Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc Ubi Soft Return to Castle Wolfenstein . Acclaim Titus Bethesda Softworks Titus Acclaim Metro3D Capcom Metro3D LucasArts Take 2 Konami Ubi Soft Capcom Titus Microsoft Acclaim Ubi Soft Star Wars Knights of Old Republc . State of Emergency. Suikoden III. . . . Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Raven Shield OCAL RETAII AETA DEIA LS Publisher/ Distributor E D ‘YD LER FOR MOR Release Title Date . 1503 A.D. The New World . 1914: The Great War . . . . Airport Tycoon II American Conque: . Aquanox 2: Revelation. ‚ Austin Powers Pinball . . . . Battlefield 1942: Southern Front. . BloodRayne . ‚ Call of Cthulu ‚ Castles & Catapults . . Cold Zero. . ‚ Command & Conquer: ‚ Crusaders Kings . . .. Delta Force: Black Нам Devastation ‚ Dragon's Lair Enclave . „ Eve Online . . Electronic Arts. . JoWood . Global Star Software . CDV . JoWood . Global Star Software . Electronic Arts. . Majesco . Fishtank Interactive . Infogrames . JoWood . Electronic Arts . Strategy First ‚ Electronic Arts . Hip Interactive, Inc ‚ Digital Leisure . Vivendi Universal ‚ Vivendi Universal. 1/20/03. Time Warp . B FORMAT XBOX Ш STYLE | TO 4-PLAYER ACTION E PUBLISHER MICROSOFT Ш RELEASE JANUARY 2 Combining the thrilling aspects of low-altitude air combat with the high-octane feel of an action movie, players who pop in Crimson Skies are in for an aerobatic treat. As the air pirate Nathan Zachary, gamers Ux... will launch themselves headlong into 1930s America as Nathan scours the land to find those who murdered his best friend. Featuring an enormous world — in which you can fly anywhere you can see — CS will allow you to interact with your environment in unique and interesting ways. Players can trigger landslides on some levels, collapse water towers and bridges on others and engage in a bunch of other destructive behavior that will likely dazzle and delight those who just can't get enough of airborne mayhem. . Fire Department . Gothic Il . . Harpoon IV. . Highland Warriors . . IL 2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles . Impossible Creatures . Indiana Jones & the Emperor' . Infogrames . JoWood + Ubi Soft ‚ Data Becker . Ubi Soft . Microsoft + LucasArts . Strategy First ‚ Vivendi Universal ~ Vivendi Universal . Ubi Soft . Vivendi Universal + Vivendi Universal . Infogrames . Infogrames « Verant Interactive . Eidos . Codemasters . Ubi Soft . Activision ‚ Dreamcatcher . Microsoft. . Gathering of Developers < Ubi Soft. . Electronic Arts . Electronic Arts - Digital Leisure. . Activision » LucasArts . Ubi Soft. . Ubisoft . Eidos : Monolith + Electronic Arts ‚ Lock On Modern Air Combat : Lords of the Realm Ш... NASCAR Racing 2003 Season . ‚. Operation Steel Tide . Pacific Gunner . ‚ Planetside ‚ Praetorians ‚ Project 1612: Covert Strike . ‚ Rainbow Six З Raven Shield. . Return to Castle Wolf: Enemy Territory. .. Riddle of the Sphinx Il: Omega Stone . + Rise of Nations ‚ Serious Sam Gold. . Shadowbane „ Sim City 4 .. . Sims Online, . Space Асе . Star Trek: Elite Force 2 . Star Wars Galaxies . | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Gold Pack . . Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . . ‚ Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness . ‚Топ 2.0 . . Ultima Online: Age Of Shadows . . Unreal Il: The Awakening . . Vietcong . Who Shot Johnny Rock ‚ World Of Outlaws Sprint Car Racing 2 . . Digital Leisure . Infogrames 1/2/03. . . . Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. 2/3/03. ВИЕ аон een 1/1/08. . . . Crash Bandicoot 2: Ntranced : Vivendi Universal 1/2/03. . .. Creatures = SVG 2/4/08. . . . Daredevil. . Encore Software 1/14/03. . . Digimon Battle Spirit. Bandai 12/17/02. . Dora the Explorer: Search for Pirate Take 2 3/3/08. . . . High Heat Baseball 2004 . 300 2/11/03. . . Jungle Воок........ Ubi Soft 1/2/03. . . . Medabots: Metabee Gold. “SVG 1/2/03. . . . Medabots: Rokusho Silver -SVG 2/18/03. . . Mega Man and Bass . Capcom 3/11/03. . . Ninja Soldier ..... Konami 3/3/08. . . . Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc . Ubi Soft 2/11/03. . . Samurai Jack: The Amulet of Time . . Bam Entertainment. 1/2/03....®$тбйу.......... . Electro Source 2/4/08. . . . Super Puzzle Fighter Il . Capcom 1/3/03. . . . Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon < Ubi Soft 1/2/03. . . . Wizardry: The Summoning -SVG 1/15/03. . . Woody Woodpecker: Crazy Ca: . Kemco 3/4/03. . .. Worms Blast . . . < Ubi Soft 2/18/03. . . Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters Konami GAME INFORMER "i SPLINTER C EL Go right towards the ladder. If the guard spots you, just stop in some shadows and you'll be fine. Get on the ladder and enter the trap door. Climb up the pipe and ride the zip line. Follow the woman's instructions through the fire. Meet your contact and then you'll come to a smoky room; quickly turn on night vision and Shoot out the glass above. Enter the door to the right. BLausreiN's BLAck Box Just proceed quietly over the wooden planks, Go to the end and jump the gap. Kill the guards after the guy outside finishes his phone conversation. Walk to the end of the house to the bed- room. Inspect the picture of the lake. Check your notes to open the door in the bedroom. Turn left and use the zip line from the balcony. Grab the ropes of the elevator and slide down. FIND Gurcenioze’s DEAD Drop Pick the lock and proceed through the hall. Walk slowly down the stairs. You'll encounter two men talking about an “assault.” Pop both in the head when the guard on the catwalk isn't looking. Quickly grab the bodies and carry them into the shadows. Get the Dead Drop from the body on the bench. Just sneak past the above guard, and turn left down the alley. Wait for the guard on the ground level to disappear. Enter the cove on the right. Wait for the guard on the ground to pass. When he returns, wait for him to pass again, but this time, get him with a headshot. Go up the stairs. Watch out for the guard in the far window on the second floor. Walk slowly to the gate that is to the right of this building. At the gate, turn right and walk to the corner. Duck and enter this hidden path. Check the computer. Ger Into PoLIcE Precinct | H f j i n Leave, but beware of the patrolling guard that has appeared. Kill him quietly, or just sneak. Go through the gate; the guy on the ground is a civilian, and the one just above him is a guard. Sneak! left to the end. You will encounter another guard. Sneak up and pop him in the head. Enter the gate to the veranda-like area. Go to the dumpster to the left and get on top. Kick off the wall on the left and climb over the wall. Go downstairs and enter the code. [ Locate AGENT BLAUSTEIN ' A guard will walk away from you. Follow him closely, but don't alert him. When he's in the office, sneak towards the open window quietly and off him before he trips the alarm. Get the data i Stick from the computer in the office. You will encounter another guy shortly after; knock him out. Pick the lock on the door on the | left. Go to the next room and get another data stick. This room ! leads to the morgue, which houses a security camera. Go behind |! the plastic curtain to the right and face forward; the camera is to the right on the ceiling. Shoot it out. You'll find Blaustein here, unfortunately. | mcs 1l. You'll head up some xig stairs and enter: a door. E Be TA past both; but if he spots you, guards will come. Proceed to the у P EN This walkthrough details how to complete each objective of each mission. Since new objectives sometimes appear during missions, you'll find that it is easier to follow the guide starting at the beginning of a mission. Also, if there's one thing you shouldn't forget throughout your covert exploits, it is to hide bodies well. Very well. Good luck! Access SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM =m) v5tom] a 5 the survelilance 5 here, as there are two guards ready to take you out. Wait like 20 seconds so the one guard leaves. Now, make a slight sound Î near the office to get this guard's attention; run next to the door FIR you entered and duck. When he comes around the corner, hit him on the head. Go left through the steel bars and up the stairs, but be quiet. Sneak up to the first guard at the desk on the left. : Put him іп a chokehold and take him down the stairs, where you Should knock him out. Do the same to the second guard. Check the computers. Go through the door at the end on the right. Go in quietly and pop the guard in the head. Enter the rooms on the right and you'll find some useful items. Go downstairs and head | to the double doors. INFILTRATE THE EAST WING (Don't Trip Alarms) | Goto the little tin chimney on the roof and rappel down the wall. Enter the open window. Kill the guard that comes in between the bookcases before he leaves. If he goes to the open part of the room, a camera will detect the kill. Now, shoot out the camera on the right side of the wall. INTERROGATE GRINKO's DRIVER Go in between the bookcases, duck and shoot out the camera from here. Turn out the light, turn on night vision, and draw the guard outside the door and down the hallway into the room. i Position yourself across from the door and duck. When he enters, blast away. Enter the hallway. Sneak and kill the guy out here. Goto the last door on the right; open it but don't enter. There's Go across the courtyard on the left side. You can try to take out the three guards if you like, but you can sneak past them and d ; climb the latticework next to the door without disturbance. Head upstairs and turn left when you enter the hallway. Goin | the office with the two computers and go through the door to the outside. On the right is a pipe; jump on the rail of the balcony and then to the pole above. Shimmy around to the open window. Fall and duck on the window. Fall while you're ducking and hide ч behind the material in front of you. DEACTIVATE THE LASER GRID Deactivate the laser arid. Wait for the guard to leave, grab a bottle on the shelf to the right, and then chuck it into the freezer. One guy will go to the freezer; let him. The other one will stop in the middle. Knock him out and then the one in the freezer. Enter the door. Wait at the door i dark with your night vision on. Shoot the enemy that comes in. Go downstairs. On the second level will be one guard; grab him, take him upstairs, and then knock him on the head. Go a quarter of the way down the stairs on the left of the first and second level. Shoot the guard near the computers in the head. Maneuver down the opposite staircase and sneak up on the guard at the door. Use the computer to deactivate the grid. LasER-MiC THE GLASS ELEVATOR H ИНН Access NiKoLADzE's COMPUTER 5s Nikoladze's ‘computer, Two enemies will appear from the elevator. Kill them quickly. Go up to the top floor. Hit the camera and hide behind the soda machine facing the camera. When the guard walks by, knock him out. Now enter the door next to the elevator and use the computer. Jump on the desk and get up in the airshaft. There are two paths to take. At the end, there is a grate; go through the open one. Shoot the camera, or sneak past it. At the end of the hall, you'll turn left and encounter a room with three enemies. Make some noise to draw two of them out. Crouch in the corner in the dark so that you're facing the enemies. When one returns to the room, shoot the remaining enemy in the head. Check the computers and return to the area near the camera. Enter the door on the right. Get the items and climb the ladder to the roof. On the edge will be a small metal chimney. Use it to descend the side of the building. Shoot out the window, making sure that you're just above the window. When the guard comes and looks out the left or right windows, shoot him in the head. Enter the room, turn off the lights, and check the computer. When the guards come, make sure you're in a corner. Throw a grenade near the entrance and shoot the rest. REACH EXTRACTION Follow the path. Fall to the right, grabbing the edge of the pipe you're walking on to pass the obstruction. After the save, look to the right and slide down the wire. Crawl under the large red pipe and then climb the small silver pipe. Get inside the hole in the large red pipe. TRAIL THE MERCENARY TECHNICIAN Additional objectives pen dino. | (MONENE) LÀ Once you're outside, don't walk forward too fast; a guard will spot you. Wait a few seconds and they'll pass by on your left. Kill the guard that remains patrolling on the catwalk above. Climb the Steel beam on the left (which is in front of you). When you can proceed no longer, fall to the left and hang. Get to the other side of the catwalk and jump the railing. Head upstairs. Let the guards walk ahead. You'll encounter one; kill him, but let the second one go ahead untouched. Go around the corner and wait until the people walk in the door. Kill the two guards stationed in front. Wait for the guards inside to pass by. Enter and go to the kitchen to the left. You'll find a Medical Kit. Go back outside and proceed n your right will be a device that has ic Cold Water" written on it. Jump on this and then grab the pipe above. While hang- ing, kill the guard that remains. Get the ammo on the structure to the right of the desk. Proceed upstairs. Kill the next two guards and follow your target inside the room. Now go back to the staircase you just came from and head downstairs. You'll find your guy crouching near the sunken boat at the beginning. Give him a swift elbow and grab the briefcase. PLAY TO PERFECTION t ji i T Retrieve the 5C-20; ü i Take out the guy at the soda machine and follow the sign to the i£ server room. Wait for the guard in the hall to leave, and sneak up on the guard to the right. Wait in the shadows for the guard in the hall to come, and then knock him out too. Hide these bodies where you found the 5C - 20K. Proceed through the automatic double doors into the server room. Put in 2019 in the keypad and proceed slowly inside. Go to the middle of the room. Quickly run down the stairs a little and then back up into the shadows. This will alert the guard. When he comes, use the Sticky Shockers on him. Do the same to the guard crouching in the next room. Now |! access the computer. Tap DoucHERTY's COMPUTER towards the large gate on the left, following the periphery of i the wall. Take it around, slowly approaching the guards near the ı van. You'll encounter a fence. Climb over it through the hole in ‘the barbwire, Jump off of the generator to the vent in the building. ` Jump on the ledge to the left; you can enter from here. Get down i, from the catwalk and wait for the guard to leave. Climb over the 1. fence and knock out the guard when he returns. At the end of the hall there’s a camera. Use the coves in the wall on the left to sneak past it. Now you'll go upstairs and encounter two guards. Before you do, make a little noise to bring the first guard down. _ When he inspects the noise, knock him out. The other guard I should come. Just wait under the staircase and knock him out too. You'll encounter another long hallway. Take the first door on the right. Get the kit and check the computer on the table. Go through the next door. Wait until the guard in the window in the room opposite of you leaves. Sneak through the metal detector on the right. Wait for the guard talking on the phone to use the elevator, and then distract the guard standing next to the elevator. He'll eventually go into the room with metal detectors. When he does, take the elevator down. In the next hall, wait for the guard | 1o pass and the office person to enter the copy room on the left. Knock the office worker out and enter the room he came from. Check the computer. Wait in the dark at the fork in the hallway. Knock the guard out when he walks by. Go left and enter Security Station A. Quietly knock out the guard here, but be sure the guard patrolling in the hallway isn't walking past. A worker will come Shortly, so be out in the hall waiting for him. Now go get the guard patrolling the hall; stay in the shadows and you should have no problems. Return to the security room to get the items and check the computers. Now return to the fork in the hallway. Enter the last door on the left and grab the Lock Pick. Enter the room next to the soda machines. The code is 7687. Enter the door in stealth and wait for the one guard to pass by. Creep up to the guy on the left and knock him out. Then quietly knock out the guard at the far end of the room. Check the computer and get the code from the data stick. It is 110598. Proceed slowly through the door. Take out the two workers; wait for the first worker to get close to the corner near the stairs. He'll tum his back, at which point you should grab him and knock him out. KO the next worker. Go upstairs and get {һе 5С - 20K from the shelf. Access THE CIA CENTRAL SERVER Accohs the CIA contr 132 cu INFORMER n j [ Tap Dougherty” I i ‘| Go through the door and head upstairs, Enter the office and take ; t Out the two workers in stealth; doing this is not necessary, though. Go down the hall and use Sticky Shockers to take out the guard in the window. Enter the next door, but watch out for the cameras on the ceiling in the center of the room. You can’t shoot them, so watch them carefully to pass them. Also, watch out for the guard at the stairs. Use the partitions and pillars to avoid detection. When itis safe, run to the other side to get to the next hallway. When you turn the corner, quickly take out the worker in the room on the left. Now go down the stairs; sneak past the camera and enter the only door here. The code is 110700. Be quick, or the camera will catch you! Quietly enter the door, and take out the guard in the room on the left. Enter the next room and head into the elevator. Sneak behind the movie curtain and the desks to get through the next room. Go around and enter the door on the right. There will be two offices in the next area. The office on the left is Dougherty's. KIDNAP MircHELL DOUGHERTY AND TAKE HIM TO THE RENDEZVOUS Carefully proceed down the hall to the right. There is a camera and a guard at the end. Sticky Shock the guard and carefully pass the camera. If you sit in the corner, the man at the soda machine (Dougherty) won't see you. When he walks away and the camera is pointing in the other direction, follow Dougherty. Knock him out, duck, pick up his body, and creep by the two guards watching TV, and the worker getting coffee. Go to the double doors and enter 0614 as your code. Enter the door on the left marked UFO. Check the computer. Enter the next door. The code is 020781. Now go back out to the hall and enter the glass smoking room. Move around a little so you alert the guard outside. When he comes in, quickly shoot him with a Sticky Shocker. Go outside and head to the left through the gate. Descend the stairs. INCAPACITATE THE: Go in the building, down the stairs, drop the. the guards. Make а little noise near the doo! come. Crouch in the corner next to the staircase and take hi out. Use one Ring Airfoil Round when he's completely in the room, then quickly run up to him as he's stunned and give hi an elbow. Do the same thing with the second guard. If you run up the staircase a little, you'll alert the second guard. Drag their bodies under the staircase; Go outside, crouch and tum left so that you're looking down the stairs. A guard will come in front of you. Use two Airfoil Rounds on him, grab Dougherty, and head towards the truck. When you encounter the second staircase, a guard will come up. Just stand at a distance and Sticky Shock him when you have a shot. Go down the staircase and drop Dougherty's body near the last dumpster on the left. Sneak up and Sticky Shock the one guard near the truck standing in between the two truck drivers. Bring Dougherty's body to the truck. Take out the two guards. Just wait for one to patrol the back area. Enter the office and get the Medical Kit. Pass through the door next to the office. Go up the stairs. Before you emerge from the door, let the two finish talking. When the guard on the left leaves, grab the guy on the right, drag him into the staircase area, and knock him out. Take out the next guards, which might be tough. If you're spotted, go down the first staircase and break out your sniper. Zoom in with your scope from this position and you should be able to pick both off. When you're done, climb through the opening on the right side of the wall. Jump to the set of hanging boxes and climb across the length of the crane’s.arm. When you fall to the next structure, turn around and jump to the building. Walk over to the small chimney and rappel the wall. Once you're on the glass roof, go to the end and shoot a hole through one pane. Fall in. Kill the guard through the automatic doors and enter. DISARM THE BOMB Go through the office. When you find a dark room, enter the vent that is broken open. After the cutscenes take out the two guards in the hall. The narrow path on the nig) has a Medical Kit. Its - at the end on the wall. Enter the elevator. Stay in the elevator, -~ creeping out of the opening slowly without emerging completely. When the lights come on and fighting ensues, get back in the elevator. Snipe at the enemies from in here. Continue down the hall and you'll encounter two more guards. Without getting Spotted, take these two out sniper style. Go into the burning room to the two hostages, but watch out for the wall mines. Approach the mines slowly and hit A as soon as the light blinks green. Run |) down the hall to the left and input the code, 33575. Just before the fire, there's a door on the right, which is trapped by mines. Run into the room quickly; just haul ass through all of the subse- quent rooms since all of them are booby-trapped. When you get to the hall, you'll encounter the Archives room, which is locked. Pick it and enter. Climb the file cabinet and defuse the bomb on {һе other side. Restore Power To THE FIRE Door CIRCUIT | x 4 "m aum "m. 8 Ш ШЫ TUE "9 Grab his satchel, and quietly proceed ahead. Just before you PLAY TO PERFECT 4: ON FOLLOW THE TRUCK IN] 3 Collect Intelligence with t di — - иилип Jl Rappel down the wall. Enter the structure on the right and stand gainst the far wall. When the guard enters, knock him out. | ff’ top of the wall to the right. Once you get to the other side, fall and - proceed. You'll encounter two more enemies. Quickly off them. A 3 Pa next room you'll find three more guards. n TN You'll WA Move back into the darkness next to the red bars and wait for go up some stairs and encounter three more guards. Goupa ‘| ; another guard to come. Use an Airfoil Round to KO him. Be sure t i i i | к Kill some more guards in a blue ijf t0 hide the body. Run across the street to the catwalk. Climb it. E DU UE ITI soma More Quarts in a Enter the building through the busted window. You'll pass some enter the light ahead, go to the right next to the telephone pole. е" c. | Û p sumen onec Ses er to the Fire door ci Leave the bomb room and head left. There will be two guards. Snipe the one at the base of the stairs from a distance. When the other guard emerges, quickly nail him too. Go behind the auditorium for a cutscene. Quickly set wall mines at the top of the stairs for a few easy kills. Back off a bit and open fire to get the rest of the scum. Go downstairs and get the items off of the table. Flip the switch on the wall. OPEN THE FIRE Doors SURROUNDING IVAN Ороп the Fire doors surrounding Iu When you come upstairs there will be an enemy in the upper seating. Snipe him before he can do any damage. Go up the staircase on the right and enter 1250 as your code. Kill the two enemies with your rifle who are in the room straight ahead on the second floor. Talk to the fallen NPC in the second room on the left. Pick him up and drop him off at the infirmary. Kill the guard that comes to the infirmary entrance and talk to the fallen NPC again. Turn the corner and walk slowly past the enemy in the room on the left. Take him out with a headshot and check the computer to open the fire doors. Fino IVAN BEFORE THE RUSSIANS AND ТАКЕ His Encryption KEY Proceed through the opened door. Go up the stairs and open the door. Snipe the two enemies in the next room. Head into the bathroom and get into the vent. Kill the guard harassing Ivan. Talk to Ivan. Leave him. Take the elevator up. corridor. Turn the corner and you'll see two doorways. Go in the second one and haul ass. Some mines will soon explode. Kill another guard and you'll be outside. Kill a few more guards and :4 you'll come to a cutscene. Now snipe the two enemies straight |} ahead and to the right of the opening. The three of them are in the red catwalks. When they’re dead, ascend the catwalks up to | « |; the chopper. RENDEZVOUS WITH THE AGENCY CONTACT АГ Turn right down the little alley and climb over the wall. Maneuver down this alley and quietly grab the guard with his back turned and knock him out. Make a little noise to attract the other guard. Either sneak up on him or shoot him with Sticky Shocks. Turn left 38 and enter the building with the fire. Go up the ladder. Proceed quietly so that the guards on the streets cannot hear you. At the end of the catwalk, jump to the rope above. Quietly move across he rope when all three enemies have their backs to you. Walk along the ledge of the building and head down the ladder. When he guards converge at the ladder and then leave, quietly make your move to the street. Go behind the jeep and follow the wall to the corner. Hug the corner and let the guard in front of you pass. When he does, proceed ahead. Go to the right and hide in the junk. Wait for the two guards to pass by. Now enter the hole in the black fence across from you. Enter the sewer. At the first and move on. One will turn down a corridor to the right. Take him out quietly. The other two will probably be alerted. Just wait in a dark area and Sticky Shock them as they approach. When you emerge from the sewer, wait for the guard on the left to walk away. Quietly get out and grab the other guard. Take him around the corner and knock him out. Wait for the other guard to return. When he turns his back, shoot him with an Airfoil Round, which should be followed up with an elbow. Climb the catwalk on the junction, turn left. Proceed straight, letting the guards go ahead of ji you. When they stop for the first time, wait for them to stop talking * J | boarded windows on your right, and then turn a comer. Be quiet; Î there will be a guard standing in the doorway. Sneak up and 11 grab him. Take him into the house and bop him on the head. Go * t outside, quietly use the wire to get to the other buildings. Hop to the awning of the building next to you. Fall to the ground when the guards to the left and right aren't looking. Go down the first Jalley on the left, but be sure the guard at the end of this alley is | climbing the ladder. Now, quietly proceed on so as not to alert il the guard ahead of you. Sneak up on him and knock him out. lj If you have any Airfoil rounds, use them here. When the guard | that stands in front of the barricade and knock him out. Drag him { to the dark corner on the right. The dumpster guard will soon II! appear, so wait. When he leaves, quickly run over to the wall ЇЇ] across the street. Crouch and sneak past the camera and enter COLLECT INTELLIGENCE WITH THE LASER-MIC AND LASER-MIC His CAR 11" Run to the trailer while crouched, and go under it. Make sure |' that the guard on the other side of the trailer is actually behind ; it; otherwise he'll spot you quickly. When he's facing the loading dock, emerge from the front and go to the area underneath the trailer across from you. Get in front of the trailer's supports and jj uP against the wall. You'll want to shimmy along the wall until you | get to the bridge. Be very careful of the rottweiler. The animal "9 and its master will move in a counterclockwise motion. When the i|. guard starts moving from 6 o'clock to 1 o'clock, make your move. ; Remain crouched and haul ass towards the bridge. Get under 1 it fora minute to make sure that the dog has stopped pursuing. ! Now cross the water and pass the gazebo. Cross the water ; again and pass through the opening on the right. Creep toward {| the light, but stay in the dark. Aim the recorder at the left most left. Enter the building through the broken window. Climb the pole ' j| window on the second floor. and you'll find your contact at the top. GAMEINFORMER 133 PLAY TO PERFECTION RENDEzvous WITH COEN Run across the roof and go up the stairs. Go just beyond the door into the shadows. Wait, draw your gun and kill the guard that emerges. Kill a second guard that emerges as well. Go through the door. Go down the stairs on the left. Behind the the door. Go down the stairs and enter the door on the left. Kill the two guards below you and then use the steel beams above to that enters. Fall to the ground and get the Medical Kit. Check the computer and leave. Go through the double doors on the left. All of the doors will be impassable, except one. Ignore that enemy, H and check the grates on the floor. Enter the open one. Climb the pipe and be quiet in the ceiling. When you get to the opening in the ceiling, throw the grenade between the three guards. ғ Quickly fall and turn around. Kill the guard if he comes through the door; he might not. In the meat locker you'll encounter two guards. Kill them. After you pass some machinery, there will be a lot of smoke; in this smoke is an automatic turret. To pass it, | jump on the last machine on your left just before it. If you jump | over this machine, you can safely fall next to the turret and shut Go to the left towards the red light, using the shadows to move stealthily. When the guard leaves, move past the glass double doors to the other side of the building, which is dark. Now creep | i along the left side of the wall to the area behind the gate office. On the wall you'll see a pipe; use it to climb over the wall. Your contact will be waiting here. f plastic curtains. With your Thermal Goggles on, shoot them 4 through the plastic, and you won't get hit. There will be another =. plastic doorway with a turret just on the other side. Kill the guard | over there. Now get on the steel beam that goes through the loorway. This will allow you to pass the turret without injury. You'll i: come to a save point and then three more guards. Take them out by sniping them with the Thermal Goggles. In the back of this | room, you'll find another open grate. Fall in. Get out and go down] ! the stairs slowly. Kill the guard. Flip the switch on the wall and fall /: the two guards out quietly. The passage to the right is where you |i need to go. There will be a guard patrolling this area too, so try ‘and take him out quietly. In the last stall on the left, there will be | a turret. Just run past it quickly and turn it off. Turn left when you leave the stalls. To your right will be some more stalls with two guards patrolling. Just shoot them in the head. Also there are urrets in some of these stalls. If you enter the first one on the eft, there will be a crawl space in the back. Use this to shut off | the first turret. Run past the last one. You'll encounter two more guards. Just hide in one of the semicircular indentations and let them pass. You'll turn a corner and encounter a large room on the right. There's some ammo on a metal shelf next to the third , entrance. If you take the middle path to the turrets in this room, you can go right in between them safely. Deactivate the turrets. PROTECT THE U.S. SOLDIERS AND CHINESE DIGNITARIES You can sneak past these three guards at the beginning, but killing them is just as effective. Hop the fence on the right. A guard will walk in the small building. Follow him in and take him | / out quietly. Get the items and check the computer. Head back — ' outside. Use the thermal goggles here, since there are land mines in the field. The route to the right is impossible, so you h have to go around to the left. Just be sure to move when the light $ isn't shining. Get to the back left corner of the area. There will be ‘ a silver door on the left, which has a mine in front of it. Now pass this door to the opening directly across from you. Get the Medical Kit. Get on the dumpster and jump off of the wall on the right to the opening directly above you. Do not step on the metal rooi in the next section. Travel on the beams to the other side. Also, do not move when the lights are on; and don't let your shadow get cast on the billboard. Stand just before the beginning of the billboard. When it goes dark, jump over the window to the other ledge. Follow the wooden planks to the platform. At the end, jump |f to grab the rope. Move yourself over to the stable ledge. If you j get caught, the guards will come up. If they don't hit the alarm, kill them. But if they do, start over. When you're done, climb the fence to get to the antenna. Hit the switch. LOCATE THE HOSTAGES (BEFORE THE EXECUTIONERS) tthe Hosta Go to the American army officers on the right; set a Wall Mine in the stall that is to the left of the Americans. Go back out and activate the turrets but make sure the Disable function is off so that they will attack guards too. Get in the stall on the left and kill the two guards that come. Now go in between the turrets, Î kill the guard in the red beret that comes down the center path. Next launch a Smoke Grenade into the area where you planted FJ; the Wall Mine. Next, you must kill Grinko. Carefully make your ; way to the front silver barriers. Position yourself behind the one furthest on the left so that you can see the right-most entrance lî into this room. Go into sniper mode and wait for Grinko to enter. Immediately peace him out. ` 134 iMt INFORMER ; it off. There will be three more enemies just through a second set i furthest barrel is a Wall Mine, so be careful and disable it. Get the i goodies and check the computer. Go back upstairs and through * |; INFILTRATE THE EMBASSY VIA THE Upper FLOOR get down. Fall to the lockers below and quickly kill the third guard 1 a Hi A | through the doorway of the other building. Kill the guard that comes. When you emerge from this building, there's a pipe just behind you. Use it to get to the next building. Stealthily go across this building without getting seen by ground guards or other guards in the building. When you turn the corner, get on the ledge. It will take you to a pipe that leads to an entrance. Access Feirone’s DATA IN THE BASEMENT i : into the center groove. Go through the open passageway. Take ; ў ў Destroy the trucks carruino nuclear weapoi Enter through the glass doors on the left. Take out the two guards eating, and then the cook. To the left of the cook in the ; corner is a ladder. When you get to the top, run into the other building, and then run back. Go into sniper mode and look Go into the closest room and enter the hole in the wall. Shimmy along the wall to the pipe. Continue along the next wall until the opening. Kill the guard standing there, and then launch a smoke grenade at the other two. Kill them while they're choking. Check the computer in the red room. DESTROY THE TRUCKS CARRYING NucLEAR WEAPONS j Go through the door and enter the first room on the right for some goodies. Make a little noise to alert the guard at the top of the stairs. Go down and wait for him under the staircase. Take him out with a Sticky Shocker. Shoot the other guard in the head. Take out the camera that is up and slightly to the left of PAY 10 PERFECTION the fist пао Go to the blow. hallway ай enter ле first door’ |} The path to the extraction is linear. Just go where the fire isn't. ' B into оге next room pi i quietly. Sneak into the dark part of the room, make some noise; |; When you get to the steel staircase, go to the window. Now espe. _, hall. Use the Camera Jammer tog а to wake the guards, and throw a grenade between them. You — ;' |? and then slide the window open. guards go right down the hall, tum the corner and go left through ~ Should get at least one. Take out the other one with either another : р и, | the double doors. Remain behind the stand in this room, since grenade or a head shot. Now wait until you hear the guards ا‎ = = ' quss i y ; there's a camera. Use the Jammer here, too. Go through the next come. Run to the other door (the one you came from), and open ' : ү ] A < ч 1 1 set of double doors on the left. Put in 66768 as your code for the it. When you see only one guard standing there, take him out next door. To deal with these three guards, make some noise with a Sticky Shocker. Run and stand in the doorway. Stop at the 11! in the hall, and then lure them into the previous room. Since it's entranceway, since there's a turret on the right. Just stay close to +$ E E dark, hit them in the head, one at a time, as they walk in. Take the wall and go up the stairs to the left. You'll probably get shot at, Ihr: yi у j the elevator down. Get off quickly and hide behind the bookcase which will alert the other guard. Go halfway up the second small. "8 Г ion the right. Aim your weapon up to the right at the catwalk. An set of stairs and wait for the guard to come. Hit him with a Sticky — 1 enemy will come shortly, so snipe him. Launch a Smoke Grenade Shocker. Go around and turn off the turret on the ground. Get in between the elevator and the bookcase you're hiding behind; on the shelf just above this turret and go through the hole in the Р РЭ this will kill two enemies that come. There is one more enemy. failing. Just disable the turret for a second. It will kill two guards. F К ': He's оп a staircase directly ahead. Just go into sniper mode and Now deactivate it and hide the bodies. Go back downstairs and — j start to move backwards. The enemy's head will appear between activate and disable the turret; jump up to the other one and do f 1 the books and the second shelf. Hit him at your leisure, since he the same thing. Just above the opening in the railing, there is { |j won't be able to hit you. Enter the small doorway just to the left a pipe. Use it to get to the other side. Wait for the one guard to 1 íí JN | of the staircase. Grab Nikoladze and then use the retina scanner. Ded аы a up ү m Tea fall to p go үч ut mid LO E ШШ g back Шы ш D Ed a with an Airfoil round. Get behind him and grab him. Use the reti- #13; | j + Hide in between the box and the stone pillar. When the secon nal scanner. Kill the guard inside and open the window on the itt! E guard comes over, creep out just a little so that you can throw In the next area there will be three guards and a dog. Take the 4), a grenade between the box on the left and the box on the right. dog out first and then the three guards. If you snipe, you shouldn't This will kill the two guards waiting there. Move out to the right have any problems. Go through the door in the right corner of ; 1, with thermal vision on; creep slowly. There will be another guard this area. Shoot the guard and the camera in the next area. Go 7%; hiding behind a pillar. Once you see the edge of his body, start through the door. You'll come to a warehouse; a guard will be at shooting. There will be another one crouching that is just to the the ү end, bd d put mie ve v the ie pe ше, If j cg m guard. e bor one will be near duree ii о ће you're too quick though, you'll alert him. Again, if you're fast, you right of the corner of the box you were originally hiding behind. can get to the door before it closes! Kill the chard quiet There к А ed ; KILL KoBAvN NiKoLADzE Just do jumps and double jumps off of the walls to pass the beginning section. Once you get to the top, go to the left-most part near the tower. Jump over the railing and take the dog out — Î with an Airfoil round. Take the guard out with one too. Attract the m second dog and take it out as well. You can KO the second guard; : too, if you like. Go to the statue just out and to the left. Snipe the guard in the tower. Run to the opening in the bushes. Take are two guards in this next warehouse. You can either kill them the middle path, and you'll encounter a guard at the exit of this (the easy way), or sneak around using the right side of the wall. bush maze. Grab him and knock him out. There will be a guard To get to the steel catwalk above, go to the boxes near the area beyond the fountain and gate. Snipe him as well. Put in 2126 as of the second camera. There is a single box; use it to get up. Now} the code to the gate. Veer to the left and enter the grate near the | Tun as fast as you can around the catwalk until you're facing the .ifi§ door of the tower. Go up the stairs and enter the museum. Follow ends of the trucks. Hurry and shoot the fuel pump between them. lit the center path, as there are laser traps along the sides. Wait in the far right corner, and guards will come. After they start going away, enter the large double doors close to you. Come out and | İi either kill the guards or try to sneak past them. You need to get to the double doors in the right of the room. Turn on night vision ; and watch for the beams on the stairs. Jump over the ones at the * base, and jump over the railing before the ones at the top. Go into the only unlocked door. Sneak around carefully to the guard j onthe second level. Follow him around, grab him, and knock him | * out. When the guard above walks away from the stairs, sneak up: to him, grab him, and knock him out. For the two on the bottom, ; just snipe or leave them alone. Put іп 70021 as your code for the: /; door. Make your way downstairs to get the Medical Kit. Sneak up on the guard on the right; approach him as he walks down the short hallway. Grab him and pound him on the head. Sneak * past the two guards patrolling the hall. Enter the little hallway; the) ; | last one on the left. Watching out for the camera above, pick the ү lock, and enter. The lasers aren't too tough. The first one you just need to crouch and crawl under the upper lasers when the lower Î When they start walking the other way, run to the pole on the ones go off. For the second set, jump over the lower one when ‘iff wall to the right. Climb it and get in the opening to the left. The j target is just off to the right. Hit him in the head and run to the the upper ones disappear. After this, you'll hear a guy talking; no m i t matter what you do, he'll hear you. So just hide for a second, and ijji; dark corner behind you. When the enemy appears from the door, ; Shoot him in the head and enter that door. he'll go stand guard. Sneak ир to him and take him out quietly. RENDEZVOUS WITH OSPREY Use the computer. Use NIKOLADZE TO OPEN THE RETINAL SAFE FOR EXTRACTION | Go downstairs and head left into the room at the base. Shoot out the two lights and position yourself at a distance in front of the i entrance. When the one guard walks in, hit him in the head. Kill the other two by luring them in here and doing the same thing. Go ': through the double doors. Open either of the doors in the room and then quickly retreat to your dark room. Kill each guard as he enters, but make sure he’s alone. If they stop coming, go out a little, and you may see them patrolling the dining area. Snipe — : j, them. Go back to the double doors where the guards came from. j There might still be one more there; just quickly take him out, or use the previous tactics. You're home free! Go to the library. When you get outside, there are guards on both sides. They walk in sequence, so you just need to watch one. When they begin to walk away, go straight down the center, making sure never to get ahead of them. Get in the fountain and go all the way to the end. When you get to the end, crouch, and remain in front of the last sculpture. The guards won't see you. їп - i! COL Shoot the guy in the back of the head, and then follow the other guard when he goes to resolve the situation. The code to unlock the door is 1456. The code to the next door is 1834. The third code is 7921. When the cutscene is over, just grab Feirong and move him towards the computer; choose Use Computer. MEET COEN FOR OSPREY EXTRACTION GAMEINFORMER 135 PLAY TO PERFECTION INTERACTIVE OBJECT CONCEPT Swamplands Sketch Shang Tsung Character Bio Senate of the Elder Gods Test Video 88 Ruby Koins Quan Chi’s Inner Sanctum Concept Characters Test Your Sight Concept Lin Kuei Temple Concept АА Quan Chi Costume Sub-Zero's Medallion AB Kung Lao Sketch Giant Drummer Detail AC LiMei Character Bio Kano Costume А D Moloch Sketches Swamplands Sketch AE MK 2 Cabinet Security Panels 120 Jade Koins AF RO: Rip Off!!! Hint Baphomet Sketch AG Deadly Alliance is Born Ultimate MK3 Arcade Marquee AH Shang Tsung Sketch Sonya Concept Sketch Al Quan Chi’s Tattoos Ghost Ship AJ 38 Gold Koins Drum Arena Details Portal Sphere Character Concepts The Grid: Guest Stars The Grid: Noob Saibot The Grid: MK Ninjas Princess Kitana Costume FK: Fly Killer Hint Mavado Sketches Blood Energy Drink Reptile Skin Lotion Backstage: MK 4 Commercial Backstage: MK 4 Commercial Backstage: MK 4 Commercial MK Gold Logo MK 4: Sonya and Tanya Shang Tsung's Palace Sketch Octo Garden Sketch Book of Destiny Shang Tsung Soul Concept Great Dragon Egg Female Character Concepts JT: Johnny's Tapes Hint 92 Sapphire Koins Test Your Sight Concept Quan Chi Sketches Wu Shi Academy 492 Onyx Koins House of Pekara Concept Cyrax Kano's Cereal Carlos Pesina Senate of Elder Gods Concept Raiden Sketch 143 Ruby Koins Dragonfly Story Swamplands Sketch 71 Jade Koins Academy Promo Render Scorpion Goes Back to Hell Video ‚ Soul Cage Concept "Hsu Hao Concepts 18 Sapphire Koins - Moloch Promo Render Shang Tsung's Palace Art Mavado Coat Concepts PD: Pay Day!!! Hint 57 Sapphire Koins Quan Chi's Throne Scorpion Concept Sketch Nitara Costume Palace Exterior Sketch QoIOUOozzx >>>>>>>>> а зоо то2 = 7х - IO0TmmoOou»NXxz-«c-opzmuovozzrx--rommogoo»mw-«xz < с 90000000000000000202020O OU U UJ ооо оошо ошооо UU C9 UU CDU UC] C9 UC] UU CO UU CO 0] 72 5 72 77 >> mmmmmmwmwm mOOCOCUOOOCUOOUOUOOOCOOOCUOOUOOOCOOOCOOGQg:. TNMAXKEXCHONOUOZZITmX--rommoog- т T гп гп гп гп гп г гп гп гп г ITT гг г г [TT гг гї ITI FTI ITI fT ITI FTI = Inmo ш>Мм-<х®=<с-олҗлоюоожгх—-тҥоттооош MK 3: Kung Lao vs, Jax Lifeguard Sonya Character Concepts Dan ‘Toasty’ Forden (MK Team) Sonya Blade Character Bio Shokan Warriors Quan Chi on the Sax 98 Ruby Koins Johnny Cage Costume Scorpion Cloth Test Acid Bath 18 Jade Koins 221 Onyx Koins Mortal Kombat 2 Print Ad SF: Smelly Feet Hint Mavado Sketches Nethership Arena Li Mei Sketch MK3 Behind the Scenes Empty Koffin Cave Arena Concept Video 579 Ruby Koins SS: Sword Sale Hint Empty Koffin The Lost Tomb Ed Boon (MK Team) Swamplands Sketch 949 Platinum Koins Mythologies Home Version Quality Assurance: Chicago MK 3 Arcade Marquee Reptile Sketch Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figures Action Figure Vehicles Bo’ Rai Cho Character Bio MK 3 Ultimate Print Ad Quan Chi's Face Texture Dairou Drawings Drum Arena Quan Chi's Chest Armor ST: Sarna Test Hint Cyrax Sketch Blood Stone Mine Concept Cyrax Test Render A Long Time Ago... Arcade Montage A Softer Side to Cyrax Portal Story Li Mei Sketch MK 1: Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion Dragonfly Concept Render House of Pekara Concept ттптт ттт пт caomouozz IDOIDIDIDOIDIDIDIDIDICLOIOIIIOGOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOGOGOGOQOQOZOOXOTTTmmT Early MKDA Promo Palace Exterior Sketch 1,800 Jade Koins MK 2 Characters Palace Exterior Sketch MK T-Shirts MK Youth Clothing MK Sweatshirts MK T-Shirts Empty Koffin (Funny...FU ...Get it?) 243 Platinum Koins UH: Unleash Hell Hint Comic Book Art, 1 of 41. Comic Book Art, 2 of 41 Comic Book Art, 3 of 41 Comic Book Art, 4 of 41 Comic Book Art, 5 of 41 Comic Book Art, 6 of 41 Comic Book Art, 7 of 41 Comic Book Art, 8 of 41 Comic Book Art, 9 of 41 Comic Book Art, 10 of 41 Comic Book Art, 11 of 41 Comic Book Art, 12 of 41 Comic Book Art, 13 of 41. Comic Book Art, 14 of 41 Comic Book Art, 15 of 41. Comic Book Art, 16 of 41 Comic Book Art, 17 of 41. Comic Book Art, 18 of 41 Comic Book Art, 19 of 41. 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Ice Palace Test Video MK Pinball MK Gold Print Ad Fire Well Concept 38 Jade Koins Kenshi's Sword Shang Tsung's Soulnado МКА Logo Forest Sketch MK Rock “Ет Sock “Ет Sub-Zero's Coffee Mug 32 Pack of Adult Diapers River Front Concept Lava Shrine Exterior Concept IV: Icy Vixen Hint Lava Shrine Arena Quan Chi's Amulet Lava Shrine Priest DK Dressed to Kill Hint Church Concept 57 Gold Koins PH: Phat Hint Halloween Masks Fortress Exterior Sketches 91 Sapphire Koins Sub-Zero’s Blade Character Concepts Dairou Sketch Frost CN: Cyber Ninja Hint MKDA Merchandise MK Gold Endings Jax Renderings Kuatan Palace Render Programmers (MK Team) Frost Sketches Swamplands Test Render 59 Ruby Koins Drum Arena Sketch Jon Greenberg (MK Team) Hsu Hao Sketches MK 4 Print Ad 772 Sapphire Koins Li Mei Sketch 92 Gold Koins Shang Tsung Drawings John Nocher (MK Team) Mk2 Arcade Board John Podlasek (MK Team) Kitana Sketches Raiden Costume Dragonfly Render Johhny Cage Videos Palace Interior Sketch John Vogel (MK Team) Kano's Reminder Raiden Test Render МК 4 Home Version CTT TOT TO г гг nn RR RRR RR AAAAXAARARARAAAAAX ACCIGOTnOOUDPN-»xz«cdo0Du3 ovozzr-x--rgommgo lêre ae ga rad oral JEA A Болт GOWrN